


A Heart of Crystal

by The_Albinocorn



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Retelling, more tags as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2020-10-17 07:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20617268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Albinocorn/pseuds/The_Albinocorn
Summary: Thousands of years ago, Spinel joined the Crystal Gems in the war against Homeworld. She survived the Corruption. She made Earth her new home. Now, she has a new duty: to keep Steven Universe and the rest of her friends smiling and laughing amidst all the fighting. But as Steven begins to grow up, and the past returns to haunt the Gems, Spinel may find it harder to keep herself in high spirits, let alone her family.A retelling of Steven Universe with an extra Crystal Gem.





	1. Prologue: This Game's Winner...

Hands folded in front of her skirt, eyes wide and beaming, mouth stretched into a happy smile, Spinel stood, still as stone in her spot in the Garden. Waiting. 

She kept her eyes up to the top of the altar where the warp pad sat. Any moment now, her Diamond would come back and tell her she had won the game and that she was so proud Spinel had followed orders.

Any moment now.

She had been gone an awfully long time. Spinel had lost track, but she knew it had been at least a century. But Pink Diamond had been so happy to get her first colony, and Spinel was nothing but happy for her. Yes, she had wanted to come along, but Pink had given her a new super fun game to play.

_ “Here’s how this game goes,” Pink said, lightly tapping Spinel’s nose, prompting a giggle. “You have to stand very still right here until I come back, okay?” _

_ Spinel bobbed her whole body up and down, barely able to contain her excitement. “Oh boy, that sounds like a great game!” She then realized she was bobbing. “Wait, wait, we didn’t start yet, did we? Hold on, I gotta get a good pose!” _

So, Spinel took her position, looking on happily as Pink stepped up to the warp and was beamed away. It was hard not to wave or shout goodbye or good luck. But Pink would be fine. She was a Diamond. Of course, she wouldn’t have her Best Friend Spinel there to make her laugh or play games or lift her spirits when she was sad or talk to…

Spinel almost frowned. But that would be breaking the rules. But how could her Diamond go on without her? Why couldn’t she come with her to Earth? Didn’t Pink need her best friend?

_ It  _ is _ super important Gem stuff. Maybe she thought I would have more fun playing this game instead. _

But what about Pink? It was a Spinel’s job to entertain and make Gems laugh, and this Spinel had the super rare, ultra important task of being best friends with Pink Diamond! She couldn’t do her job from here, could she? But she was playing the game Pink told her to. So, she was making her happy, right?

Spinel tried not to think too hard about it. Still, the thought would creep in every once in awhile until she thought of something else to keep herself distracted. She had  _ hundreds _ of plant jokes for Pink when she came back.

Because she  _ would _ come back.

*****

The Garden was getting overgrown. Vines spiraled down the pink columns, spilling onto the promenade. Several had even encroached upon the altar, climbing up the walls and railings. The air was pungent with the sweet smell of thousands of flowers, some in bloom, many dying.

Pink was always the one to manage the plants, Spinel would just watch and race her from planter to planter. Pink tried to explain how to care for them once, but Spinel didn’t really understand. When she tried to pour water onto a flower, Pink told her she was pouring too much and drowning it.

So, Spinel let her do all the hard stuff and then help relax with one of her impromptu comedy acts. Pink always loved those. Though, she had smiled and laughed less and less as time went by. She had barely batted an eye during Spinel’s last juggling routine.

Spinel had thought maybe her routine  _ was _ getting a bit old. But there were only so many things she could juggle here! Still, an entertainer did the best with what they had. Standing in one spot for years on end had given her a lot of time to come up with new ways to dazzle her Diamond.

Her eyes drifted up to the stars, visible through the transparent ceiling. So many glittering dots amongst the black canvas. Spinel wondered which one was Earth. She wondered if Pink was thinking about her. Was she having fun?

_ Is… that why she’s taking so long? Is she having too much fun to come back for me? _ Spinel gave a mental shake of her head. Bad thought! Yellow and Blue Diamond had made it sound like running a colony was very serious business. Pink was probably too busy to have much fun.

Which made Spinel long for her even more. All work and no play made a Gem very dull.

She’d come back. Then Spinel could tell her all the jokes and new game ideas she had come with. They’d dance and laugh and have fun just like they used to.

Because Pink  _ would _ come back.

*****

Sleep wasn’t something Gems needed, but standing in place for so long, smiling until her cheeks hurt, Spinel admitted she was feeling a little tired. Tired, not bored. She couldn’t be bored; she was playing a game Pink had come up with. Standing in place doing absolutely nothing. Happily waiting for her best friend to return. She was having so much fun. 

That’s what she told herself.

Besides, she was  _ so _ close to winning. Pink would warp back any moment and be so pleased she had played the game so well. 

Just a little longer.

Just a little longer.

Any minute now.

Maybe it was serendipity, or maybe her best friend heard the mental call Spinel put out. Either way, her eyes widened and lit up, just like the warp pad at the top of the altar. A beam struck down, and when the light dissipated, there she was.

Pink Diamond.

It took all of Spinel’s self-control to not jump for joy or shriek in delight or do anything that would get her to lose right at the finish line. All she could do was widen her already huge smile, straining her cheeks. She watched Pink step down the stairs, graceful and elegant as always, her poofy pink hair bobbing with every step.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and walked down the promenade toward Spinel. Her steps were slow, and she looked weary. The smile on her lips didn’t reach her eyes. Spinel knew she had a lot of work to do.

Finally, at long last, after countless hours, Pink stopped in front of Spinel, knelt down, and lightly tapped her nose. In a soft voice, she said, “You did it. You won.”


	2. RE: Gem Glow

A blast of frigid air hit Spinel’s face as she opened the freezer door. Earth technology was still so fascinating to her. They had a box to keep things cold, and then another box to keep things even colder! How  _ cool _ was that? She giggled at her own pun as she lifted her stretchy arms up and dumped her hull into the freezing box.

“Steven’s going to be  _ so _ excited when he gets home!” Pearl said from behind her.

Spinel pushed the last frozen treat inside and swung the door close. “I can’t wait to see the look on his face! Do you think it’ll be, ‘whaaaaa?’” She slapped her cheeks and stretched her mouth into a surprised o. “Or maybe, ‘ooooooh!’” She lifted her hands over her head and widened her eyes.

Amethyst laughed, pointing a finger at Spinel as she pulled faces. “Probably both. You know how expressive he is. He gets it from you.”

Spinel puffed her chest out, her heart-shaped gem shining under the kitchen light. Her appearance had shifted several times over the millennia. Her current outfit had been inspired by the circus ringleaders she had seen several years ago. She wore white pants with pink cuffs and a light pink master of ceremonies jacket which she kept open to reveal her gem. She kept her pink gloves and shoes, and now sported star spangled ribbons tied around her heart-shaped hair buns. 

“Kids should be able to healthily express their emotions. So that means, I’ve done my job right.” She had read that in a parenting book.

Garnet stepped up behind Amethyst, subtly reminding the other three Gems who the tallest in the room was. “I think we’ve all done a good job on raising Steven to be well rounded.”

Pearl pressed a hand to her mouth. “Yes, but I’m still worried. His Gem powers  _ still _ haven’t materialized. He has Rose’s gem, that should mean…  _ something,  _ right?”

Garnet adjusted her orange visor. “We’ll see.”

Spinel wasn’t too concerned about Steven’s Gem powers or lack thereof. He was still one of the greatest things to happen to her. To all of them really. If he turned out to have no magical powers, she would love him all the same, and she knew her fellow Gems would too. Speaking of Steven, she could hear something coming up the path to the temple.

“Oh, oh, I think he’s on his way back! Quick, act natural!” She grabbed a cookbook from over the sink and pretended to read, not realizing it was upside down.

Amethyst frowned, leaning her head toward the door. “Uuhh, that doesn’t sound like Steven’s footsteps.”

Spinel lowered the book, straining her own ears. Indeed, the noise approaching did not sound like the familiar patter of Steven’s sandals. In fact, they didn’t sound human at all. It was a quick scuttling noise, intermixed with clicking and… snarling?

Garnet raised her fists, her gauntlets flashing into existence over them. “Enemy approaching!”

The Crystal Gems jumped into battle positions at their leader’s declaration. Pearl pulled her spear from her forehead, twirling it twice before pointing it at the door. Amethyst brandished her whip, giving it a solid  _ crack _ . 

Spinel reached into her gem and pulled out a white handle. When it was full extended, a pink, heart-shaped mallet sparkled to life at the end. She lifted it up, holding it in both hands and bending her knees, ready to spring to action.

The scuttling and roaring grew louder. The Gems all tensed, gripping their weapons tight. They waited for the first move to be made. Then, the scuttling started to fade away.

Amethyst lowered her whip. “Wait… are they leave—”

“ _ Skreeee!” _

Everyone jerked their head to the loft window on the second floor. They were long and green with gem-like patterns on their undersides and way too many pairs of legs for Spinel’s liking. Their mouths were jagged and dripping with green ooze, and each one had a bright eyeball in the back of their throats. They poured in from the open window, at least eight of them.

“Centipeetles?” Pearl said, more annoyed than concerned. “How did they get to Beach City?”

“Dunno, but I know how they’re leaving,” Amethyst said, cracking her whip again. She jumped into the air and swiped at one, striking it across the face and sending it back outside. The rest didn’t seem to care and carried on toward the warp pad and the temple door in the back of the house.

Garnet grabbed one as soon as it touched down on the first floor and swung it into the wall, making it poof into specks of dust on impact. Spinel didn’t see a gem drop from it, though she didn’t have time to look very hard as another centipeetle lunged at her, mouth agape. 

She stretched her body out of the way, rubberbanding back and whacking it across the room with her mallet. She then sprung up to the loft to deal with one that was gnawing on Steven’s pillow. “No bugs in the house!” She lifted her mallet up, then paused. “Well, unless you’re a butterfly. Or a roly-poly. Or a lady bug. Or a—”

“Spinel,” Garnet said, holding a monster by its jaw. “Focus.”

“Oh, right.” She brought the mallet down onto the centipeetle’s head, poofing it into nothing. Like she thought, there was no gem left behind. She opened her mouth to voice her observation when the front door opened.

“Guys, you won’t believe— _ ah! _ ”

Steven Universe, half Gem, half human, and all loving. Spinel would have smiled at the sight of him, but a centipeetle had decided to try and eat her favorite child the moment he walked through the door. Steven held it back by the tips of its jaw. 

Amethyst lassoed it with her whip and yanked it away from him. “Sup, Steven?” She threw the bug monster toward the back of the house, where Garnet took it and broke it over her knee.

“Woah!” Steven looked at the mayhem with stars in his eyes. “What are these things?”

Pearl ran one through with her spear. “Centipeetles. Sorry about the mess, Steven. We’ll clean them up in a second. They must have been trying to get into the temple.” 

Steven set something down next to the front door. “Aww, you don’t have to get rid of all of them. They’re kinda cute!”

_ Typical Steven _ , Spinel thought, as the centipeetle that had been knocked through the window crawled back in. “No can do, Steven,” she said, grabbing it and pinning it down with her shoe. “These things are really…  _ bugging _ me!”

Steven laughed while Pearl groaned. But that one boy’s laugh was all it took to make Spinel’s heart melt. She smiled and laughed too, even as she whacked her targeted monster across the room and into the wall. 

“Hey, dudes,” Amethyst shouted, “these things don’t have gems.”

“Which means the mother must be somewhere nearby,” Garnet said. One reared up behind her, and without even looking, she swung her fist back, popping it in the nose and poofing it.

Pearl threw her spear like a javelin, pinning a monster that had gotten too close to the kitchen into the wall, where it let out a pitiful roar and poofed. “We should probably find the mother before it hurts innocent people.” She tackled the last one in a full body hug from behind.

Steven gasped and ran up to Pearl. “Oh, a Gem mission! Can I come this time? Please? Pretty please?”

“Steven, we’ve discussed this,” Pearl said gingerly as she snapped the Centipeetle’s neck. “No going on Gem mission’s until you’ve learned to use your powers.”

“Aww, I wanna help protect humanity too.” He hung his head in dejection. 

Spinel could count on one hand the number of things that made her upset. Sad Steven was one of those things. Storing her mallet back into her gem, she coiled her legs like a spring and bounced over to kitchen. “Oh, Ste-ven!” she sang, grabbing the handle of the freezer.

Steven looked up at her, his lower lip out. “What?”

“We got something that’ll cheer you right up!” Spinel flung the door open and made a theatrical gesture. “Ta-da!”

Steven’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “It… it can’t be!” He ran up to the freezer, stretching his arm up to grab one of its treasures.

“Cookie Cat!” He held up the frozen dessert for all to see. “I can’t believe it! Where did you get them? They stopped making them!”

“Well, we heard that too,” Pearl said, shutting the freezer door. “And, since we know they’re your favorite…”

“We went out and stole a bunch!” Amethyst said, throwing her arms up in juvenile delight.

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. “ _ I _ went back and paid for them.”

“Whatever. It was  _ my _ idea.”

Spinel jabbed a thumb at herself. “Nuh-uh, it was  _ my _ idea!”

“It was a team effort,” Garnet said.

Spinel could accept that; everything they did was a team effort. “And the important thing is that Steven’s happy!”

Indeed, as Steven stared down at the cat-shaped frozen treat in his hands, the smile on his face grew wider and wider until…

“Oohhhhh!

_ “He’s a frozen treat with an all new taste, _

_ “‘Cause he came to this planet from outer space! _

_ “A refugee of an interstellar war, _

_ “But now he’s at your local grocery store!” _

As Steven sang and danced, Spinel happily bounced up and down, smiling from ear-to-ear. She joined him in singing the chorus.

_ “Cookie Cat! _

_ “He’s a pet for your tummy! _

_ “Cookie Cat! _

_ “He’s super duper yummy! _

_ “Cookie Cat!” _

Amethyst, who had just been nodding her head along joined in as well.

_ “He left his family behind! _

_ “Cookie Caaaaat!” _

Steven added in a whisper, “Now available at Gurgens off Route 109.”

All the Crystal Gems broke into laughter, even Garnet. Spinel savored the moment, soaking in everyone’s smiles and laughs, especially Steven’s. It wasn’t as if these friendly moments didn’t happen all the time, but being a Spinel, she practically lived off of smiles and laughs. And they meant even more when they came from people she cared about.

“I can’t believe you guys did this for me!” Steven said, doing a little hop. “You’re all the best! I’m gonna savor them forever.”

He beamed down at the Cookie Cat.

“Right after I eat this one.” He ripped the wrapper off, revealing the cat-shaped chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream sandwich, and took a large bite out of its ear. “Mmmm! Oh, old friend, how I missed you!”

As he hummed in delight, a soft glow began to emanate from under his shirt. Steven didn’t seem to notice, his eyes closed in bliss. The rest of the Crystal Gems, however, gasped in shock.

“Uhh, Steven?” Amethyst said.

He opened his eyes, finally noticing the bright light. He quickly pulled his shirt up, revealing the pink quartz embedded in his naval. “My gem!”

Without the shirt impeding it, it gave off a lustrous shine that nearly blinded Spinel. She stared anyway, a giddy grin on her face. “Quick, quick! summon your weapon, summon your weapon!” she shouted, pumping her fists up in down.

“I-I don’t know how!” Steven hopped from one foot to the other. The glow was starting to fade. “No, come back!” He squeezed his eyes shut and grunted in an effort to bring the glow back.

Pearl held her hands up to try and placate him. “Calm down, Steven. Don’t force it.”

“Yeah,” Amethyst said. “And don’t poop yourself either.”

“Please don’t.” Garnet said.

Steven opened his eyes in time to see his gem go dormant. “Awww.” He slumped onto the floor, taking a melancholy bite of his ice cream. “I was so close that time. Can’t you guys just teach me how to summon my weapon?”

Pearl let out an excited gasp and shot her hand into the air. “Oh, I’ll go first!” She picked Steven up around the middle and skipped off with him, heading outside.

“Bye, Steven! Have fun!” Spinel shouted.

Garnet crossed her arms. “She’s going to confuse him.”

Amethyst nodded. “Yep.” In an enthusiastic voice, she said, “Time to play  _ my _ favorite game: contradict whatever Pearl says!”

“Won’t that confuse him even more?” Spinel asked

“Nah.” Amethyst waved a hand. “You know how Pearl likes to overly-complicate everything. I’ll just tell him to keep it simple.”

As she and Garnet wandered off, Spinel wondered how  _ she’d _ teach Steven how to summon his weapon.

*****

It turned out, Spinel didn’t have to wait long. An hour later, as she was cleaning the kitchen, the door swung open, and a dizzy looking Steven tottered in. She smiled and waved at him as he approached. He gave a short wave back… then fell face first onto the carpet.

“Golly, Steven, you look exhausted.”

Steven lifted his head up. “Pearl told me to dance like a petal, Amethyst told me to not think, Garnet told me to link my mind to the elements. I don’t think I’m any closer to making my gem glow again.”

Spinel held her thumb and index finger against her chin. “I see, I see.” That sounded in character for all of them. And as she expected, her poor Steven was even more confused than when he started.

Steven pushed himself up and brushed the sand off himself. “Spinel, you always like to keep things simple. How do you summon your weapon?”

Stretching an arm out and making a loop before bringing her hand to scratch the top of her head, Spinel said, “Gooood question.” She  _ had _ been giving it some thought until she got distracted. It had been a  _ long _ time since she had first summoned ol’ Whacky, and the circumstances behind it… were things she tried not to think about. 

But, Steven needed help. She had to try her best to give him advice without confusing him even more. And he was right, she  _ did _ try to keep things simple. It was better for everyone that way.

“Well... usually, it comes out whenever I need to whack something.” She pressed a hand against her gem and materialized her trusty mallet. “Buuuut, I only need to whack something when there’s trouble.” She spun the mallet on her finger.

Steven tilted his head. “But, there’s no trouble now, is there?”

Spinel looked to the left and right. “Huh, guess not. There goes that idea.” She tossed her weapon up, watching it fade into light. She squished her hand against her mouth. How else could she explain it? It wasn’t like Amethyst who could do it without  _ thinking _ . Well, it  _ was _ instinctual at this point, but there had to be something to it.

Steven shifted onto his bottom and sighed. “Summoning a weapon is the easiest thing you guys do, besides bubble monsters. If I can’t do this…”

Spinel quickly stretched her arms and coiled them around Steven, pulling him in for a warm hug. “Aw, don’t worry too much about it,” she said in her peppiest voice. “Maybe you don’t have it right now, but I promise, it’ll come when you need it.”

_ Huh… that actually sounds right, _ she thought to herself. She had  _ really _ needed her mallet the first time she pulled it out.

Steven sighed. “Thanks, Spinel. But now, I really wanna know what it is. And I was glowing earlier, so I must be close!” His eyes widened. “Oh, oh, I might have an idea!”

Spinel unroped him from her arms. “That’s my Steven!”

“Stay here, I have to go get everyone else!”

*****

A few minutes later, Steven paced the kitchen floor, the Gems gathered around him. “I think my best bet is to recreate the whole situation from before. So, everyone get to where they were when my gem started glowing!”

Pearl shared an uncertain look with Garnet. “Well, if you say so.”

Spinel was also unsure of this method, but thought it was usually better to let Steven try than to tell him no. Besides, one silly idea could lead to an even better one! She took her spot next to the refrigerator.

“Okay, yeah! Wait, hold on…” Steven began directing and adjusting everyone’s postures and positions, even correcting Garnet’s facial expression, which, like always, was stoic. “Now, Spinel… uhh… oh! Do your bobby thing!”

“Can do!” Spinel began to bob up and down, listening to the old ragtime song playing in her head. 

Steven pulled a Cookie Cat from the freezer and tore the wrapper off. “Then, I took a bite of this and.. Oh wait, I sang the theme song first. Frozen treat, all new taste, interstellar war, available at Gurgens.”

He thrust the cookie skyward and closed his eyes. Nothing happened.

“Awww.” He pulled his shirt up and stared at his dull gem. “Maybe I’m not a real Crystal Gem.”

Pearl knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. She smiled reassuringly. “Don’t be silly, Steven. Of course you are.”

Amethyst threw her hands out. “Yeah, and besides, you’re blast to be around, even if your gem is useless.”

Pearl glowered at her.

“Uhh, I mean, you’re one of us, Steven! One-hundred percent!”

Spinel hugged him from behind and stretched her head to rest on top of his. “We aren’t the Crystal Gems without you!”

Garnet nodded and gave a small smile. “Totally.”

Steven relaxed into Spinel’s hug. “Thanks, guys. And even if I don’t have powers, I still have Cookie Cat!” He bit into it, sighing in delight. “Mmm, soo good!”

As he chewed, a bright pink glow enveloped the room. The light solidified in front of Steven, and the Gems gasped in unison for the second time that day. Before their eyes, the solid light formed into a pink disk with an even pinker spiral coiling inward to a replica of his gem.

Pearl let out a loud gasp and jumped to her feet. “It’s a shield! It’s  _ Rose’s _ shield!”

Steven’s eyes filled with stars. “I get a shield? Awesome!” He threw his arms into the air, and his new shield shot away from him. It hit one of the support pillars, ricocheted off to the wall, hit the floor, bounced to the ceiling, off another wall, and straight into Steven’s T.V.

Spinel gasped. “He’s just like Captain America,” she whispered in awe. 

“I summon my powers by eating ice cream!” Steven proudly announced. 

Amethyst quirked an eyebrow. “Yeeeaaah. I doubt it.”

Pearl, however, picked up the wrapper and looked at the back. “What is in these things?”

The shield disappeared from the side of the television, revealing the deep gash it had left. Before Steven could take another bite, the entire house rumbled, sending dust from the ceiling. 

“What was that?” he asked, wildly looking around.

A familiar, unearthly screech answered him, and the room dimmed as something long and multi-legged scuttled up the window. Garnet pointed to the door, and they all rushed out side and cast their gaze to the roof.

The mother centipeetle looked just like her children, only far bigger and with a mane of white fur around its head, and what looked like a second mouth at the end of its tail.

Spinel pointed to it. “Hey, guys, we found the mom! That was easy!”

Garnet summoned her gauntlets and jumped after it, delivering a solid hit to its jaw. As it roared and teetered, Pearl ushered Steven back into the house.

“Stay here where it’s safe; we’ll handle this.”

“No way! I wanna help too this time!”

“Sorry, Steven,” Amethyst shouted. Garnet jumped off the roof, pursued by the green beast. Amethyst and Spinel jumped after her, pulling their weapons out. 

They all landed on the grassy knoll in front of the temple, Pearl joining them a second later, spear at the ready. The mother centipeetle reared in front of them, acid dripping from its maw. Spinel didn’t want to know what that would feel like on her.

Unfortunately, this monster seemed intent on sharing. It snapped its jaws twice, then spewed a stream of green acid at the Gems. They scattered, narrowly avoiding the acid that splashed about and ruined the patch of grass. The four of them dove behind one of the fallen hands from colossus that had been built into the side of the cliff millennia ago. They each pressed themselves against a finger, wincing when the acid hit the stone, eliciting a loud  _ hiss. _

“We could really use Steven’s shield right about now,” Amethyst said as the stone began to melt behind them. Spinel wondered if she could reach her arm around and distract the monster somehow, but was afraid she wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to dodge the acid.

“Hey, leave them alone!” a voice shouted.

The acid stopped, allowing the Gems to peer around the hand. “Steven, no!” Pearl yelled.

Steven stood on the knoll, one hand on a portable freezer with Cookie Cat’s face on it. He pulled it open, took an ice cream bar from inside, and tore it open. “Cookie Cat Crystal Combo powers, activate!” He shoved the cookie into his mouth and lifted up his shirt to reveal his gem.

Nothing happened.

The centipeetle glared down at him.

Sweat started to bead around Steven’s forehead. “C-come on, powers. I think I need you right now!”

Spinel bit down on her fingers. Had she been completely wrong? Was her advice about to get Steven hurt? How could she have been so  _ stupid _ ?

The centipeetle reared back, ready to strike. 

“Uh oh!” Steven grabbed the freezer and ran, narrowly avoiding the monster’s first chomp. 

“Steven!” Spinel yelled, cut off by the monster’s biting tail snapping at the other Crystal Gems. It smashed into the hand, sending the debris of melting rocks over their heads. Spinel grabbed one and chucked it at the monster’s main head, distracting it for just a moment.

Steven slid to a stop and popped the freezer open, grabbing three more cookies. With a tearful sniff, he said, “Goodbye, my friends,” and shoved as many of them into his mouth as he could. Still, no shield appeared. 

“Why isn’t it working?  _ Ahhh!” _ He dove out of the way as the mother’s head launched at him, missing him but striking the freezer. In an instant, the acid from its mouth melted through half of it and destroyed the ice cream within.

“No! No, no, no!” Steven looked upon the remains of his friends. He clenched a fist. “Cookie Cat, he’s a pet for your tummy…” He stood up and faced the centipeetle.

“What’s he doing now?” Pearl asked frantically. 

“Cookie Cat, he’s super duper yummy!” Steven grabbed the electrical cable attached to the freezer and hauled it into the air, swinging it like a mace.

“Cookie Cat, he left his family behind!” He threw the freezer, sparking with remnant electricity at the monster, making a direct hit. 

It roared and screeched in pain as the electricity coursed up and down its body, coloring it blue and white and making its mane stick out wildly. 

Steven saluted. “Cookie Cat, now available… nowhere.”

“Gems, now!” Garnet commanded.

They all sprung out from behind the rubble, brandishing their weapons as they came down upon the dazed beast. Four different weapons struck, Spinel striking it extra hard, tears in her eyes. With a final roar, the mother centipeetle exploded in a cloud of smoke.

A round gem that looked reminiscent of its eye landed and rolled across the ground. Garnet stopped it with her heel, knelt down, and encased it in a bubble. With a light tap to the top, it vanished. She and the other Gems looked over to see Steven burying the last remnants of Cookie Cat.

He placed a leaf on top of the burial mound. “Farewell, sweet Cookie Cat. I’ll always remember the times we spent together.” His stomach rumbled. “Sshh. hush now.”

It gurgled again.

Spinel rushed toward him. “Steven! Are you okay?” She checked him over. Aside from dirt and grass stains, he looked fine. That didn’t absolve her of the guilty knot in her chest. “I’m so sorry! I was wrong! I really thought your weapon would come when you really needed it, but…”

Amethyst put a hand on Spinel’s shoulder. “Hey, did you see the way he handled that thing? He didn’t need it anyway!”

Steven reached up and wiped away one of Spinel’s tears. “Yeah, it just wasn’t ready to come out yet. Besides, everything’s fine, so don’t cry, okay?”

Spinel wiped away the rest of her tears and exhaled, the knot growing just a little smaller. “I’m sorry.”

Steven patted her on the head and smiled. “Sshh, hush now.”

“Well, we can at least confirm his powers don’t come from eating ice cream,” Pearl said, crossing her arms and sighing in relief.

Steven slumped his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess not.”

Garnet reached down and ruffled his curly hair. “Don’t worry. You’ll figure out your powers soon. In your own Steven-y way.”

He smiled back. “You’re right.” His stomach gurgled again, and he pulled a nervous face.

“Uhh, you okay, dude?” Amethyst asked.

“Yeah,” Steven said, sounding queasy. “I think I just ate too many Cookie Cats.”

The other Gems began to laugh. Steven would have joined them, but he took this opportunity to turn and throw up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might try to draw Spinel's outfit. 
> 
> Up next will be Laser Light Cannon, then, our first chapter off the beaten track.


	3. RE: Laser Light Cannon

It seemed like just as soon as the Crystal Gems finished cleaning up one problem, another one showed up to take its place. 

Three days. It had been only three days since they finished cleaning up the acid from the centipeetle. Now a giant orb was floating in the sky over the ocean and giving Spinel the willies. 

She, Garnet, and Pearl stood on a dune near the temple. Amethyst and Steven were nowhere to be found. Pearl was getting testy, but Spinel knew they’d show up sooner or later. Besides, whatever that eyeball was, it was really far away.

“Spinel,” Garnet said, her tone soft but authoritative, “Can you magnify for us?”

“Eye eye, Captain!” Spinel saluted. She cupped a hand around her left eye, then extended it up and out like a telescope. “I spy with my little eye… yep, a big angry eye.” Orange, luminescent, with a red hexagonal pupil,it stared back at Spinel, emotionless.

Garnet crossed her arms. “This is bad.”

“I didn’t even know they could be that big!” Pearl said with a hint of hysteria.

“Yo!”

The three of the turned to see Amethyst running across the beach, carrying Steven over her head. She set him down and asked, “What’s going on?”

Pearl put her hands on her hips, looking disapprovingly at Amethyst. “Where were you? Some of us are trying to protect humanity, you know.”

“Relax, we were just eating fry bits.”

Steven pointed to the sky. “Is that a giant eyeball? Awesome!”

“Not awesome!” Pearl said, stamping her foot. “That’s a Red Eye!”

“Red Eye?” Steven gasped and covered his eyes. “Quick, look away before it infects you!”

“That’s pink eye, Steven,” Garnet drolled. “This is _ much _ worse.”

Steven looked between a gap in his fingers. “How?”

“It’s going to fall and crush all of Beach City!” Pearl said. 

Steven moved his hands to his mouth. “Yep, that’s worse. What are we gonna do?”

Spinel patted his head. “Don’t worry about a thing. Your pal Spinel is here to save the day!” She took a deep breath, stuck out her chest, and marched forward.

Amethyst snickered. “Oh, this should be good.”

She came to a halt at the edge of the dune and glared up at the Red Eye. She wasn’t as physically strong as Garnet or maybe even Amethyst, but Spinel was sure she could make this thing go away before it hurt anybody. She raised her hand above her head, where it inflated to the size of a couch. She then stretched her arm out, coiling it over and over and over, winding it into a tight spring, her fist aimed up at the Red Eye.

“Spinel’s Super Special Megaton Punch!” she cried. With a loud _ boing _ her fist flew forward, up and over the ocean, rocketing toward the Red Eye.

It collided with a distant _ tink. _

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then, Pearl cleared her throat. “I… don’t think it worked.”

Spinel felt a sharp soreness spread through her knuckles. It was like she had punched a steel wall. She made a tiny whine in the back of her throat, but kept the rest of her discomfort to herself. Her hand dropped into the ocean, and she shuddered as something slimy snaked against her glove.

She turned and walked back toward the group, doing her best to look nonplussed while her arm slowly reeled back to her. “Well, I’m all out of ideas. Anyone else wanna try?”

Garnet adjusted her visor. “The only surefire way we can destroy that thing is with the Light Cannon that belonged to Rose.”

Steven gasped. “My mom had a _ cannon _?” The Gems didn’t talk about Rose that much around him. Every time they did, he got a hopeful look in his eye. Spinel looked away, pretending to focus on getting the rest of her arm back.

Amethyst groaned. “If Rose was here, this would be _ so _ easy. We’d probably be done by now.”

Pearl cleared her throat, staring intently ahead. “Well, she’s not, and the cannon is missing. We have to think of something else.”

Steven hummed in thought. “But if it belonged to my mom… maybe Dad has it!”

Pearl looked down at him, a strained smile on her face. “Steven, Greg is… _ nice _. But, I really doubt Rose would trust him with something so powerful and… well, important.”

Spinel looked at Pearl and raised an eyebrow. “Why not? She trusted him with Steven.” Her tone was more pointed than usual, enough to make Pearl wince. 

“Yes, she did,” Pearl said slowly, “but…”

“Steven, your dad’s kind of a mess,” Amethyst said frankly, patting his shoulder.

“_ Amethyst!” _ Pearl hissed.

Amethyst shrugged. “What?” She looked at Steven and saw the gloomy frown on his face. “I mean, Pearl’s right; your dad is nice and kinda cool… I guess. But he lives in his car. If Rose did give it to him, he probably lost or broke it.”

Steven vigorously shook his head. “No way! Dad is super responsible when he needs to be. I bet he’s just keeping it safe somewhere! I’ll go ask him!”

“No need, Steven,” Garnet said, picking Amethyst up by her middle. “Ready?”

“Oh yeah! Let’s do this!”

Garnet flung her at the Red Eye, Amethyst letting loose a battle cry as she sailed through the air. Like Spinel before her, she collided with the object with a distant _ tink. _

“I’m gonna go,” Steven deadpanned.

Holding her head in her hand, Pearl nodded. “Okay. Spinel?”

She instantly popped back to her cheery self. “Chaperone Spinel, at your service!” She looped an arm around Steven’s and together, they headed off.

*****

Many of the citizen’s of Beach City had stopped their evening activities to stare at the impending doom slowly falling toward them. The people of the town knew this was a hotspot for weird activities—it was the home base for the Crystal Gems after all, so there was less panic amongst the denizens and more nervous wondering. 

After all, the Crystal Gems always saved the day. It was just a matter of when… and how much property damage would be involved.

Spinel hopped along next to Steven, trying to enjoy what would have been a pleasant evening if not for the ominous orange light the Red Eye gave off. She enjoyed any time she got to spend with Steven, and he always seemed to appreciate her company. Today, however, she could see the frown pulling at his lips.

She stretched her hands out in opposite directions, grabbing a potted plant from a windowsill, an empty trash bin, and a traffic cone. She pulled them to herself, tossed them into the air, then cartwheeled onto her hands and began juggling the miscellaneous items with her shoes. They squeaked each time an item bounced off them. Even as she performed, she kept pace with Steven.

He looked over and smiled. “That’s really cool, Spinel.” He turned back to the road ahead.

_ Really cool? _ Steven _ loved _ this trick! Spinel’s heart froze for a split second. A thought tried to edge its way to the front of her mind, but she beat it back. Steven wasn’t like that.

He wasn’t like _ her _.

With a deep breath, Spinel gathered herself before she could spiral. She flipped back onto her feet, caught her props and set them back where they belonged before catching up to Steven.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s wrong? That usually has you in stitches.”

They rounded the corner, and Steven came to a halt. His dad’s car wash sat at the end of the block. “Spinel,” he said in a low tone. “How come the other Gems don’t like my dad?”

“Whaaaat?” Spinel tried to smile, but knew it was crooked. “Steven, don’t be silly! Of course they like Greg! They just…” _ Partially blame him for Rose leaving. _ But she would never, ever say that outloud. Rose made her choice; it wasn’t Greg’s fault… technically. 

Steven was still waiting for an answer, his arms crossed.

“He’s just a little… sloppy.” It was the nicest word Spinel could think of. And while she liked Greg just fine… it was a fair description. 

“He is not.” Steven resumed his walk to the car wash. “Besides, if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs.”

“Whazzat mean?”

“Dad says it all the time. I think it means that sometimes, your flaws make you even better. And besides, if everyone were perfect, the world would be boring. I mean, would you rather have a porkchop or a hot dog?”

Spinel shrugged. “I dunno. I only eat cookies and ice cream.”

“I’m just saying, I wish the other Gems would give him a chance. Mom liked him, right?”

Spinel’s gem pulsed at the look Steven gave her. She saw Rose Quartz for a brief moment, heard her laugh. A wave of emotions rolled through Spinel, most of which she didn’t like. She settled on Rose’s laugh again, not the ones Spinel had provided, but the ones Greg had. 

She looked away from Steven and smiled fondly. “Yeah… she did.”

‘It’s a Wash’ was a simple building composed of a small office and the wash itself. The garage doors were closed, but the elephant sign overhead was still on. Greg’s van was parked out front, ‘Universe’ written on the side.

Steven ran up to it and banged on the back door. “Dad! Hey, Dad! Wake up, we need you to stop an evil monster! Dad!”

“Let me, Steven!” Spinel cupped her hand and raised it to her mouth. Her pinkie finger extended and curled until it resembled a horn. With a deep breath, she blew into it, making a deep, booming note.

A loud cacophony came from the van, as the alarm went off and someone shouted inside. Something clattered, the van shook, and a second later the door burst open, Greg Universe emerging, brandishing a waffle iron.

“Who’s there? I’m armed!” He stopped and looked down.

“Hi, Dad!” Steven waved heartily. 

Greg squinted his eyes, cupping a hand over them to block out the harsh light. He was a heavier set man, with a permanent five o’clock shadow and a large bald patch on his head. The rest of his hair hung wild and free down to his shorts. He also had a permanent tan, which made sense given this was Beach City.

“Steven?” he said groggily. He fished the cars keys out of his sweats and switched the alarm off. “What are you doing out so late?”

“Umm, it’s only six,” Steven said.

Greg lowered his waffle iron and gave a weak chuckle. “Oh. Business was slow today. Hey there, Spinel. How are ya?”

“I’m dandy, Mr. Universe, thanks for asking!”

He stretched out his back, eliciting a loud _ pop _ from it and sighing in relief. “So, what do you guys need? I’m a little short on cash right now so you’re gonna have to wait to get the T.V. fixed.” He gave them a playful grin. “Or did you pop by just to hang out with your old man?”

“Aw, I would really love to, Dad. But, we need the Light Cannon that Mom had to blow up that evil eyeball.” Steven pointed to a spot behind Greg’s head.

“Light Cannon? Eyeball?” He spun around and yelped. “That explains the harsh light.”

As the three of them stared, Amethyst flew through the air and collided with it again, only to slide into the ocean.

“Good job, Amethyst!” Spinel shouted. She really wasn’t sure if that tactic was working, but encouragement was always nice. 

Greg looked back at them, a nervous sweat building on his face. “Look, this seems like a magic thing, and you guys told me not to get involved in Gem stuff. It could be dangerous.” He patted the top of his head. “Or take away what’s left of my hair.”

Spinel shook her head. “Pearl and Garnet said don’t get involved. _ I _ say, I think you might be able to help us.” She gave him an encouraging smile.

“Yeah, Dad. They need Mom’s cannon. You gotta know where it is.” Steven gasped, getting that starry look in his eyes. 

“Did she leave you a key to a dungeon? Or a floating castle? Or did she hide it at the bottom of the ocean?”

“Woah, hold on there, kiddo.” Greg held his hands out. “Again, dangerous magical Gem stuff. It’s not in any of those places.”

Steven slumped his shoulders. “Awww.”

“But, I might have an idea on where it _ could _ be.”

*****

“A magic storage unit!”

U-Stor was located near the middle of town. From what Spinel could tell, it was just a place to store stuff. She knew looks could be deceiving though.

“I don’t know about magic,” Greg said, unlocking his unit. “But, it does have a lot of magical memories. And probably a few mysteries.”

Steven and Spinel gasped. “Mysteries?” They asked in unison. “Open it, open it, open it!”

“Okay, okay, just a sec.” Greg lifted up the garage door, revealing a tightly packed den of boxes, bags, clothes, and old furniture.

Steven and Spinel ‘ooo’d’. “Do you think the Light Cannon is in there?” Steven asked.

“Well, that’s a mystery you’re gonna have to solve, right?” Greg winked at him.

“Right!” Steven gave the wall of stuff a determined stare. “Spinel, it’s time to go storage spelunking!”

She threw her arms up. “Storage spelunking, whooo!” She wasn’t actually sure what that was, but it sounded like a new game, and that was always a win.

Steven retrieved a flashlight from a nearby shelf and tied it to his head with an old sock (he couldn’t find a rubber band). Spinel tied an arm around his waist, securing it with a knot. With his gear set, Steven approached a narrow crevice between a tower of boxes and an old dresser.

“Okay, I’m going in!”

“Good luck,” his dad said, giving a thumbs up.

Spinel tugged on her self-made rope. “If things get hairy, just give me a pinch and I’ll pull you out.”

Steven saluted, puffed his chest out, and marched inside, pulling Spinel’s arm with him.

Greg watched it. “How long can you stretch anyway?”

Spinel shrugged. “Good question.”

“It’s so cool! It’s like a dad museum in here!” came Steven’s muffled voice.

Spinel looked at all the clutter packed into the garage. “How much stuff is in there?”

Greg shrugged. “Good question.”

“It’s too bad you don’t have a gem.” Spinel tapped hers. “Then you could just put stuff there and get it anytime.”

“Heh, I suppose. But if I could, that’d probably just make me even lazier.” He jerked a thumb at the storage. “With this, I at least have to make an effort to get something I need.”

“I think I found it! Wait… aw, it’s just some golf clubs. Dad, do you even play golf?”

“Every old man has a set of clubs, Steven. It’s just something you buy when you get old.”

Spinel tilted her head. “Why?”

“Nobody knows,” Greg said, wiggling his fingers in a spooky fashion.

Humans were so strange. But so fun! Speaking of fun…

An impish grin spread across Spinel’s face. She wiggled the fingers on the hand that had journeyed with Steven, felt around for his pudgy belly, and began to tickle him. 

“Sp-Spinel!” he laughed. “S-stop tickling me!”

“I can’t, you’re just so tickleable!” She gave him a gentle pinch, but relented, thinking she had made up for earlier. 

The conversation lulled for a few minutes. Spinel felt her arm turn a corner and brush against something cool and glossy. Probably a mirror. Greg took a seat on the cement and leaned back. 

“Soo, uhh… how’s he been? At the temple, I mean.”

Spinel flashed him a big smile. “You know Steven; he’s a perfect angel!”

Greg laughed. “C’mon, Spinel. Even as his dad, that sounds pretty biased.”

“But he is! He’s super helpful, laughs at all my jokes, cleans up after himself… usually. Oh, oh! And now, he has Rose’s shield!”

Greg sat up. “He _ does _?”

“Well, kind of. We’re still working on getting it to show up for realsies.”

There was a light _ pop _ from somewhere beyond the wall of yesteryear, and Steven shouted, “Oh man, a t-shirt cannon! That’s so cool!”

Greg looked at his old things, his eyes clearly searching for Steven. “So… I guess this means he’ll start going on real missions soon.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take super extra care of him! No monster’s getting to him on my watch!” Spinel raised a hand, making a ‘scouts honor’ like she had seen on T.V.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you guys; I just can’t help but worry.”

“Hey, Dad! I found your old CDs!”

Greg’s cheeks reddened a little. “Heh, yeah. I couldn’t give those things away. Eh, probably for the best anyway. My whole one man band shtick probably wouldn’t have gone that far.”

“Are you kidding? You’re the best musician ever! You would have been great!”

He blushed even harder. “Thanks, Schtu-ball. You know, when I came here to play for Beach City, no one showed up except—”

“An alligator?”

“No, ya goof. It was your mom.”

“Haha, I know.”

Spinel remembered that night. Rose had come back talking about some cute human who could sing. Said human showed up a few minutes later with a shirt for her. Pearl had been quite… unhappy. Spinel didn’t know what to think at first.

“We were always together after that,” Greg said with sad fondness. “I’ll never understand what a magical gal like her saw in a plain old dope like me.”

Several thoughts popped up in Spinel’s head at once, each of them accompanied by a very different emotion. Joy and sorrow, surprise and confusion, anger and concern. Greg had come in and disrupted a dynamic that had lasted well over four-thousand years. He had made Rose very happy. And at the same time, he had made Pearl very miserable. 

As for Spinel herself, well… her feelings weren’t all that important. She had been too busy trying to keep her fellow Gems happy. And putting all of that aside, what Greg had or hadn’t done and Rose’s actions afterward, Spinel didn’t have any negative feelings for Greg. Not really.

She smiled and said, “I think you’re pretty swell, Mr. Universe.”

He chuckled in good nature. “Thanks Spinel. You’re pretty swell too.”

“Uhh, Dad?” Steven called, sounding apologetic. “I accidentally broke a picture frame of you and Mom.”

“Don’t worry about it, buddy. You know what I always say: if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs.”

“Hey, Steven was right! You _ do _ say that!”

“Guys, I found the Light Cannon! For real this time!”

Spinel felt Steven untie her arm from his waist and press her hand against something smooth and warm. She snaked her arm around its circumference and grabbed her own wrist, securing the cannon. 

“Okay, here I go!” she shouted. Holding her shoulder, Spinel heaved with all her might, feeling a tremendous amount of resistance. Whether it was the cannon itself or all the junk in the way, she couldn’t tell. She pulled again, hearing something scraping against the cement. 

Greg stood up and rubbed his bald spot. “Huh, didn’t really think this far ahead.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got an idea. Hold on just a sec, Spinel!”

“Holding!” She watched him run back to his van and hop into the drivers seat. Up in the sky, the Red Eye had gotten uncomfortably close to the town.

_ That thing would be a lot less creepy if it blinked. Actually… no, that’d make it worse. _

Greg’s van backed up behind Spinel. He stuck his head out the window. “Tie your other arm to the bumper and hang on tight!”

Spinel had no idea where he was going with this, but did as told, tying her arm to the back of the car. Greg floored it, and Spinel drew her arms taut. The entire storage unit made a calamitous racket as the entire front wall of items bulged forth, slowly freeing itself from its confined. Spinel could feel the cannon trying to pry itself forward. Meanwhile, both her shoulders felt like they wanted to pop loose.

There was a loud _ pop _ , and for a second, Spinel thought her shoulders _ had _ come loose. Then she looked at the garage and saw everything had come out in a nice neat block.

Which then proceeded to collapse.

Spinel felt her arm get pinned down in several places. She was pretty sure that was a bowling ball on her elbow. _ Boy, if I had bones, this might hurt a lot. _

She stretched her neck up over the pile to find Steven and the cannon. It was tall and pale, supported by two pink crystal mounts. All in all, it didn’t look like anything too special, but it had to be better than—

“Raaaaaaagh!” _ Tink. Splash. _

“Keep it up, Amethyst, you’re doing great!”

Greg got out of the car, and Steven ran to meet him. “We have to get this to the Gems!”

Spinel flattened her arm to an almost paper thin margin and reeled it back to herself. A little sore, but no worse for wear. “Don’t worry, I got this!” She ran over to the cannon, grabbed it by the bottom, and heaved.

Turned out, it wasn’t the labyrinth of miscellaneous stuff that had been stopping her. This cannon was _ heavy _. She wobbled forward, taking slow, measured steps.

“Spinel, I’m not sure that’s gonna work,” Steven said, keeping a few paces behind her.

“Nope, it’s okay! I got it! I think!” She made it a few more steps before the soreness in her arm made itself known, and she dropped the cannon. “Okay, I don’t got it,” she panted.

“It’s okay, Spinel,” Greg said.

Steven patted her shoulder. “Yeah, remember: if every porkchop were perfect…”

“We wouldn’t have hot dogs.” She smiled at them. She would really have to try these foods one day.

Greg looked at the cannon. “We _ are _gonna need a new plan though.”

Steven pinched his chin in thought. “Hmmmm.”

*****

Aside from the terrible screech of metal against asphalt, Steven’s plan seemed to be coming along nicely.

He, Spinel, and Greg were in the van, driving down main street with the cannon sitting in a wagon tied to the back. The poor wagon couldn’t handle the cannon’s full weight, and the bottom had broken out, leaving the cannon to sit awkwardly and scrape against the ground as it was pulled along.

The metal scraping seemed to be the only thing that distracted the citizens of Beach City from their panicked monitoring of the Red Eye. Spinel couldn’t blame them; it was right on top of them now, it’s shadow slowly creeping over the water and onto the beach. Its orange light had changed into a much more sinister red, which made much more sense to Spinel. It was called a _ Red _Eye after all. 

“Dad, can’t this thing go any faster?” Steven asked.

Greg pushed down on the gas pedal harder. “This _ is _ fast.”

Steven dug into his pocket. “Then, let’s at least listen to some music!” He pulled out one of the CDs from storage.

“Ooooh!” Spinel looked on with interest. She hadn’t heard one of Greg’s songs in years!

Greg went red again. “R-really? That old thing? C’mon, you’ve already heard it.”

“I haven’t!” Spinel said.

“Music time, music time!” Steven chanted as he popped the CD into the disk player. There was a single guitar, then a much younger Greg Universe began to sing.

_ I know I’m not that tall, _

_ I know I’m not that smart. _

_ But let me drive my van into your heart! _

_ Let me drive my van into your heart! _

Steven bounced in his seat with a goofy smile as he listened, while his dad grew steadily more and more pink as the song progressed. Spinel didn’t get why; it was a great song! Then again, she didn’t think she wanted anybody to drive a van into _ her _ heart.

_ And if we look out of place, _

_ Well, baby, that's okay. _

_ I'll drive us into outer space, _

_ Where we can't hear what people say. _

They left the main road and proceeded across the beach, the drive becoming even slower as the van tried its hardest to haul the cannon across the gritty, shifting, sand.

_ “So let me drive my van into your heart,” _ Steven sang.

_ “Let me drive my van into your heart!” _

Pearl and Garnet stood at the edge of the tide. They turned as Greg’s van pulled up, confusion etched on their faces. Amethyst washed up onto the shore, seaweed in her hair. 

“Garnet, throw me again! I think I’m cracking it!” She looked over to where they were staring. “Is that…?”

Spinel stuck her head out the window. “Hey, guys! Guess what? We found the Light Cannon!” she sang.

Pearl’s mouth fell open. “He… _ really _ had it?”

“Yes! We’re saved!” Amethyst yelled. 

As Steven, Spinel, and Greg jumped out the car, the earth gave a mighty rumble, unbalancing all of them. Spinel watched as sand and rocks began to levitate off the ground, heading toward the eye. The earth shifted again, and Spinel felt an odd pressure against her body.

“We need to use the cannon now!” Garnet said. 

Pearl ran over and started feeling it up and down. “I… I don’t know how it works! It was Rose’s!”

Steven tugged on Greg’s shirt. “Dad, how do we use it?”

Greg shrugged. “Good question.” 

Spinel couldn’t help but cross her arms. “Gee, ya think she would have left instructions with _ somebody. _”

Pearl looked at Spinel, then looked at Steven. “That’s it! It must be her gem! Steven, you have her gem!”

Amethyst picked Steven up. “On it!”

“Woah!”

She pressed Steven against the cannon. “Come on, work!”

“Stop that,” Garnet said.

Amethyst released Steven, who continued to cling to the cannon. “Okay, then throw me again!”

Pearl pulled down on her eye lids. “It’s no use! We need a new plan! Opal? No, no, maybe Alexandrite?”

The earth heaved again, sending everyone to the ground before the gravitational pull from the eye increased. Spinel’s hair buns tugged on her head as the force tried to draw her up. Sand flew up in rivulets now. She could hear people yelling and screaming along the boardwalk.

The van started rolling forward, dragging the cannon along with it. Greg ran over to the rope and started unfastening it. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

There was another tremor, and the gravity pull increased again. Greg pulled on the rope to stop the van, with no avail. Spinel reached out and grabbed him with one hand, but with nothing to anchor herself onto, she began to slide forward as well. 

“Umm, guys?” she said, starting to feel an ounce of dread. “You know I don’t like to yell, but…” She turned her head skyward. “_ Somebody do something!” _

Steven pounded his palm against the cannon. “Come on, please work! I know you can! Activate! Engage! Go! Crystal Gems are amazing! Excelsior! Come on, you can’t be useless! We’re counting on you!” He was on the verge of tears now.

“Steven, it’s okay!” Greg shouted, still holding onto his van. “Pearl’s right: we can come up with a new plan—a better one! It’s like I always say…”

Steven bit his lip and nodded, brushing a tear away. “Yeah. If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs.”

The cannon lit up instantly, its bright pink glow standing out amongst the red haze. The cannon’s mouth widened and folded back, twisted, then folded again until it resembled a flower in bloom. 

Pearl threw her hands over her mouth. “It’s… it’s working!”

The Light Cannon fell forward, aiming straight at the ocean. Light gathered at the opening, and a loud hum could be heard.

Garnet ran over and grabbed one side. “Quick, take aim!”

Steven crawled beneath it and lifted it up with his back. Amethyst grabbed Garnet’s opposite side, and Pearl grabbed it from the back. Spinel used her free hand to aid Steven, balancing out some of the weight.

The eye loomed closer. The cannon hummed louder. The front wheels of the van were in the air now.

“Brace yourselves!” Garnet yelled.

The Light Cannon fired, a dazzling beam of energy that rocketed through the air, straight for the Red Eye. It was formless at first. But, as it soared higher, it took the shape of a sleeping rose flower, then, blossomed into a familiar silhouette.

Everyone gasped as Rose Quartz struck the Red Eye, detonating it into hundreds of pieces in single explosion. The shockwave threw sand and sea spray in everyone’s face and swept their hair back. But as the explosion’s light faded, the world returned to its normal coloring. The night was a calm dark blue, the moon illuminating the ocean’s surface.

There was a brief silence before debris began falling back to the surface. Most of it was sand and small rocks, but chunks of the Red Eye dropped to Earth as well.

Amethyst slapped Steven’s shoulder. “Dude! You just saved Beach City!”

A small car dropped onto the boardwalk, smashing the wood.

She blinked. “Well… _ most _ of Beach City.”

Steven climbed out from under the cannon. “Sorry, Mr. Fryman!”

“Whaat?” Mr. Fryman called back.

Pearl ran a hand against the cannon’s open petals. “I don’t understand. Why did it suddenly turn on?”

Steven beamed. “I just said that thing Dad always says.”

Pearl looked dumbfounded. “The thing about the pork dogs?”

“_ Hot _ dogs.”

“Right… of course,” Pearl grumbled.

Spinel pulled herself closer to Greg, who still had his gaze turned up to the sky. “Rose,” he said softly.

“Are you gonna be okay, Mr. Universe?”

He wiped a tear away. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s good.” Spinel paused. Then put her hands in the air. “Why was _ that _ the password?”

Greg looked down at her and shrugged. “Good question.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Chapter Title: 'Good Question.'
> 
> Original material next time!


	4. No Gem Left Behind

Saturday morning cartoons were, in Spinel’s opinion, one of the best thing humans had come up with. Three hours of hilarious comedy or super heroes fighting crime? Yes, please! Steven was of the same opinion, and while their taste in shows generally overlapped, there was one show Spinel still couldn’t wrap her head around.

“Yaay!  _ Crying Breakfast Friends _ is on next!” Steven cheered, standing up on his bed. 

Spinel sat at the base, watching the credits of the previous show scroll by on their new, slightly smaller T.V..  _ Crying Breakfast Friends _ was a show about various breakfast items… that cried. While Spinel always taught Steven that expressing your emotions was healthy, she could not see the appeal in watching eggs and bacon cry for twenty-two minutes.

She missed slapstick.

Just as the opening credits started, she heard the temple door slide open, and Pearl speaking in her high-strung voice.

“—approximately forty-eight hours left until it completely collapses! Oh, how could I have gotten so careless? How could this have even happened in the first place? Probably some dumb human adventurer seeking riches and fame!”

“You know, for a Gem dedicated to protecting humanity, you rag on them a lot,” came Amethyst’s voice.

“Only when they do things like this!”

Spinel and Steven both crawled over to the edge of the loft and peeked over. Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst stood in front of the warp pad, Pearl impatiently tapping her foot.

“Relax,” Garnet said. “I’ve already located the Moon Goddess Statue. We’ll retrieve it, then take it to the Sea Spire. Easy.”

“Hold on a sec!” Steven clambered down the stairs, still dressed in his pajamas. “What’s happening? Are you guys going on a mission?”

Pearl nodded and closed her eyes, the gem on her forehead lighting up. A holographic image shone forth, depicting a tall tower. “The Lunar Sea Spire is an ancient Gem building. Very beautiful and historic. However, it needs a certain relic to keep it from falling apart.” She opened her eyes, and the hologram disappeared.

Amethyst sighed. “We have to go get the relic thing and put at the spire before it collapses. Waste of a Saturday.”

Steven pressed his hands against his mouth. “Can I come? Please!”

“Sorry, Steven. You know the rules,” Pearl said.

“Pleeeeeaaaase? Garnet even said this one would be easy!”

Every eye turned to Garnet. She adjusted her visor. “Easy. For us. Your powers need a little more time to develop before you can come along.”

Steven heaved a sigh, hunching his whole body forward. “Okay.”

“Don’t pout, man,” Amethyst said, stepping onto the teleporter. “We’ll bring you back a souvenir.”

“Come along, Spinel,” Pearl said. “We need to be quick about this one.”

Spinel nodded, secretly relieved she didn’t have to watch this week’s episode of  _ Crying Breakfast Friends. _ “Don’t worry, Steven, we’ll be back before you know it,” she said, stepping around him. 

“Okay. I’ll just… wait here until you guys get back,” he said, trying to smile.

Spinel had one foot on the warp pad when she froze. 

_ “Stand very still right here until I come back, okay?” _

She looked back at Steven, who smiled on as the rest of his friends were about to leave. Off on another mission while he stayed behind. But… it wasn’t because he wasn’t good enough. He just… wasn’t ready. It was for his safety. 

But the knot was there. It was large and tight and sent sharp pains through Spinel’s chest. She couldn’t look away from Steven. She saw a sad boy missing his friends.

She saw herself missing her best friend.

“Uhh, Spinel?” Amethyst gave her a poke.

Spinel eased her foot off the warp pad. “You know…” She rearranged her face into a smile and looked at the group. “Maybe you guys should do this one without me. Three Gems is enough, right? I’ll stay here and keep Steven company.”

Pearl hummed. “Well… I don’t see why not. We are on a time crunch; a smaller party might be faster. Okay, just, be careful and don’t get into trouble with him.”

“Yeah, that’s my job!” Amethyst laughed.

Garnet placed a hand on Amethyst’s head, and gave a peace sign to Spinel and Steven. With a melodious chime, the warp pad lit up, and a beam of light whisked them away. 

“Wow, Spinel. You didn’t have to do that for me,” Steven said.

She waved a hand. “Pffft, missions come along all the time. I’d rather do something fun with my favorite human.” She spun around and scooped him up into a binding hug, spinning him around the room.

Steven laughed and kicked his feet in delight. Spinel laughed too, savoring the moment. Sure, they always came back for him. They never  _ wanted _ to leave him behind. Maybe she was overreacting. But, hearing Steven yell with mirth, Spinel thought missing one mission for him was worth it.

She set him down and snapped her arms back. “So, how should we spend our Saturday?”

Steven pointed up to his room. “We can still catch the rest of  _ Crying Breakfast Friends _ !”

Spinel’s smile flickered. “Sure! That’s a swell idea!” 

He jumped for joy and ran back upstairs. As soon as his back had turned Spinel let out a quiet moan.  _ Steven’s worth it. Steven’s worth it. _

*****

Once the cartoons were over and Steven was dressed, he and Spinel ran outside. It was another sunshine soaked day along the coast. Wispy clouds floated overhead, and seagulls hopped along in the sand, pecking around for food.

Steven and Spinel leap frogged their way from the grassy knoll in front of the beach house down to the shoreline. After Steven tripped once over Spinel’s hair, she compressed herself a little more whenever it was her turn to be leapt over.

Steven had brought a frisbee with him, so they played one of their old favorite games: ocean catch. Steven would throw the frisbee as far as he could (which wasn’t very far) and Spinel had to catch it before it hit the water. 

Steven held the red disk in front of his mouth, eyes narrowed in focus. “Steven Universe prepares the first throw. Is today the day he finally strikes out the undefeated Spinel?”

Spinel pumped her arms up and down. “Not likely, kid! You’ll have to get up pretty early to get one past me!”

“Challenge accepted!” Steven drew his arm back, then flung the frisbee as hard as he could. It sailed out over the water, nearly nicking a low flying seagull.

Spinel snapped her arm out and caught the frisbee with a single finger. “Strike one!”

“That’s baseball!” Steven laughed and caught the disk as it returned to him. He threw it again with all his might.

Spinel watched it sail overhead, allowing suspense to build as the frisbee floated lower and lower to the water. With a stretch of her hand, Spinel caught it and spun it on her finger. “Strike two!” She tossed it back.

Steven took a deep breath. “This is it. Only one throw to go. Can Steven pull off a miracle?”

Spinel crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

“And the champion taunts the brave Steven! How will he respond? With this: Super…” Steven slid his foot back and twisted his whole body. “Ultra disk thrroooow!” 

The frisbee was flung from his hand at a blazing speed. Spinel had to duck to avoid getting hit in the face. She twisted her neck around, watching the disk fly away. “Ooooh, nice throw!” Instead of reaching with either of her hands, Spinel stretched her neck out and caught the frisbee in her mouth.

She pulled her head back to her shoulder and spat the frisbee into her hands. “Strike three! Touchdown!” Spinel began a happy jig.

Steven walked up to her and fell to his knees. “My skills are still no match for you.”

Spinel stopped dancing and said in a mock serious voice, “Fret not, my young pupil. Someday, your skills shall exceed my own.” She put her hands together and bowed.

Steven did the same, holding it for only a second before he snorted and burst into laughter, Spinel following behind. It wasn’t even that funny, yet they continued to giggle and snort, Spinel exasperating it by pulling more faces. 

Their laughter finally subsided, and Spinel asked, “Sooo, what do you wanna do now?”

Steven held his hands behind his back and teetered on the tips of his toes. “Wellll… trampoline?”

Spinel broke into a wide grin.

*****

Dewey Park was close to the middle of town. It wasn’t anything remarkable, just a large plot of land with a few grass fields, trees, and a statue of the city’s founder. However, the trees were in a perfect position for Spinel to set up her trampoline, one of Steven’s favorite activities. 

Standing in the center of four trees, Spinel jumped into the air and shot her limns out in all four directions, tying her hands and feet around the tree, and stretching her form out. She exhaled to thin herself out, then turned her body toward the sky.

“All right, hop on Steven!” 

Steven clambered onto her stomach, all smiles. He bounced once, testing Spinel’s elasticity which was perfect as always. 

“Whooo!” Steven flopped onto his back and sprang right up to his feet again. He jumped a few times, got some air, and managed a graceful front flip. He then began posing and flexing in midair, making Spinel snort.

The park was mostly empty, surprising for a Saturday. The only other occupant Spinel could see was that strange Onion kid lingering near the bushes.

“Hi, Onion!” Steven called. “Wanna come bounce on my friend Spinel with me?”

Onion blinked once, then backed up into the bushes and disappeared.

“Guess he had other things to do,” Steven said with a casual shrug. Spinel didn’t complain. That kid creeped her out, and she didn’t want him anywhere near her gem.

Steven bounced for minutes on end. To Spinel, it felt like someone was lightly jabbing her with a stick. While not the physically strongest of the Gems, her stretchy and springy body had been made to be incredibly durable. She had been specially made to be friends with a Diamond after all. Though, Pink hadn’t roughhoused her very much.

Not directly.

“Spinel?”

Steven’s voice pulled her back just before she fell over the edge into darker thoughts. She lifted her head to look at him, still bouncing. “What’s up?”

He flopped onto his belly. “How come you chose to stay with me this time? You always go on missions with the other Gems.”

“What? I need an excuse to play with my favorite buddy?” She smiled goofily at him, rolling her eyes around.

Steven chuckled. “Of course not. It’s just… you looked kinda sad when you decided to stay behind.”

_ Curse you  _ Crying Breakfast Friends _ ! You’ve made him too empathetic! _ An odd mixture of pride and anxiety mingled within Spinel. She would have to be more careful around Steven. Couldn’t let him worry about her too much.

Spinel looked around the park, like the words she were searching for were somewhere in the grass. “I just…” She couldn’t lie to him, but she  _ really  _ didn’t want to talk about this.

“I know what it’s like… to feel left behind,” she said softly. “I know what it’s like to  _ be  _ left behind. I never want you to feel like that.”

Steven sat up on his knees, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Well… you guys have important things to do. And I know it’s dangerous sometimes. So I get why I have to stay behind.”

Spinel winced. He sounded a lot like how she had thought while standing in the Garden.

Steven looked down at his hands. “I know it’s not on purpose. I’m not mad. It’s just… when I came to live at the temple, I thought I was gonna learn all about Gem stuff and how to use my powers to help humanity. But I feel like there’s still a lot I don’t know about. And my powers barely work. How am I supposed to help like this?” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

Spinel unbound herself from the trees, snapping her body back together, which pushed Steven up into the air. She caught him and set him down in the grass, taking a seat next to him.

“If it was up to me, I’d tell you everything about us. But, Pearl and Garnet want to take it slow. We all have a… complicated history. You know like those super cool cartoons where everything starts off all fun and then a plot twist happens and everyone is like ‘whaaaaa?’ And then it suddenly gets actiony and mysterious!” She began making kung fu gestures.

Steven nodded, looking excited again.

“That’s us. You’re like… on season one. And I wanna tell you so many things  _ super  _ bad!” She slumped her shoulders. “But I promised Pearl I wouldn’t. As for your powers…”

Steven reached for his gem and clutched it. Spinel raised a hand over his. 

“Like we told you before, don’t worry about it. You just being you is a superpower by itself. You’re fun. You’re  _ ticklish _ !” Spinel assaulted him, running her fingers all over his stomach until he was a giggling mess on the lawn.

“And you care,” she finished when the laughter subsided. “You care about everything and everyone. You’ve got such a big heart, it might even be bigger than mine.” She poked her gem. “You’re a lot like your mom that way.”

Steven’s eyes grew wide, a wistful look in them. “Can you tell me more about her?”

“Oh! Ummm…” Spinel’s heart tightened. All the words she had regarding Rose Quartz were either hollow or barbed or had a ‘but’ attached to the end. Almost thirteen years later, and Rose’s thorns still dug into Spinel. “I don’t know if I’m the one who should be telling you about her.”

Her mind jumped to Pearl, and she took a calming breath. “But, I know she would have loved and adored you.” 

Steven wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face next to her gem. “Thanks, Spinel.” They sat like that for a minute, enjoying each other’s warmth on the cool spring day. 

He gasped. “Wait! If me being me is a superpower, what if I find another way to be helpful without my gem? Could I come along then?”

“ _ I _ say it’s okay, but I’m not the boss. You’d have to ask Garnet.” 

Steven jumped to his feet. “Then I have an idea! Quick, we have to get back to the temple!”

Spinel sprung to her feet and saluted. “Aye aye, captain! Moving to warp spring!” She scooped him up and coiled her entire lower half into a massive spring. She sank down, feeling the tension build up beneath her. “Three… two… one… blast off!”

She rocketed into the air, the wind whipping against her face as she and Steven sailed over Beach City. Steven yelled in delight, gripping onto Spinel’s neck for dear life. As if she would ever drop him. 

Her first bounce landed them right in front of the Big Donut, where she caught a glimpse of the humans Sadie and Lars staring out the window with open mouths. Spinel liked Sadie, but she couldn’t fathom why her or Steven put up with Lars. 

She sprung back into the air just as Steven shouted a hello to his friends. They startled a seagull on the way up, causing it to shriek indignantly. 

Spinel’s second landing put them right on the knoll in front of the temple. She bounced lightly a few times before coming to a halt and letting Steven down. “Thank you for flying Air Spinel! Y’all have a nice day now and come back real soon!”

Steven staggered the first few steps, giving a delirious giggle. He shook himself off and ran for the mailbox set up near the cliff face. His smile fell when he pulled it open, finding nothing inside. “Aw, man.”

“What were you expecting?” Spinel asked. Her body had started heading for the house, but her head remained behind. 

“It’s a surprise! I just hope it gets here before the next mission!”

“Well in the meantime, how about some lunch?”

Steven threw his hands in the air and ran toward the house. “Grilled cheese! Grilled cheese!”

“Grilled cheese, coming up!”

Someday soon, Steven would start going on missions. He would grow up and become the defender of Earth like they all knew he would be. Who knew what would happen after that. Spinel tried not to think about it. Instead, she focused on the now, and what games she and Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems could play.

And after five-thousand years of peace, was there really anything they had to worry about?

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small slice of life chapter just to flesh out the relationship Spinel and Steven have. 
> 
> The art piece: I... am not an artist. But, that's kinda what I try to imagine Spinel in as a Crystal Gem. Don't ask me to draw her mallet.


	5. The New Garden

All things considered, the events at the Lunar Sea Spire could have been worse. They could have been a lot better, but Spinel tried to look at the brighter side of life. Everyone was still alive! And Steven had gone on his first mission! Sure, it had been a ‘test’ but Spinel thought he had done pretty well. 

*****

_ “Hmmm… all right, you can carry this in your backpack,” Pearl said, handing the Moon Goddess Statue to Steven. _

_ Steven let out a small squee as he held the statue. He tucked it under his arm to open up the new novelty backpack he had gotten in the mail that morning. Spinel guessed this was the surprise he had hinted at yesterday. A backpack shaped like a cheeseburger! What would these humans think of next? _

_ “Check it out! Everything is a pocket!” Steven started going through the cheeseburger, unzipping the bun, the meat, the lettuce, and the tomato. “Even the cheese is a pocket! I bet I could fit a lot of stuff in here! Hang on!” He scooped the burger up and ran toward the closet. _

_ As soon as he was out of ear shot, Pearl gathered the other Gems into a huddle, a wide smile on her face. “This is actually perfect! This should be a nice, safe, easy mission for Steven to test his abilities on!” _

_ “Test?” Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow. _

_ “Yes, to see if he’s ready to go on proper missions. The less dangerous ones anyway. Who knows, maybe his powers will manifest being close to ancient Gem history.” _

_ Garnet held a hand to her chin. “We just need to get to the top of the spire before midnight. There shouldn’t be anything life threatening there.” _

_ “And even if, by some crazy unfortunate happenstance, we can’t get to the top in time, then we just lose the Sea Spire. Sure, it’s history, but it was built by unsavory means anyway,” Pearl said with a laugh. _

_ “Well, Steven has been feeling a little left out,” Spinel said. “But I don’t like this idea of us ‘testing’ him.” _

_ “Why not?” Pearl gave an airy wave of her hand. “It’s not like he ever has to know.” _

_ “Isn’t that lying?” Spinel asked with a pointed look. _

_ “Not if we never tell him,” Amethyst said with a wink. _

*****

They had made it to the top of the Lunar Sea Spire with several minutes to spare, but Steven had left the statue back at home. And as it turned out, the spire was _ real _ picky about what you placed on the altar.

_ Farewell, Mr. Queasy. You will be missed. _

The spire had collapsed into the ocean, nearly taking the Crystal Gems with it. But it would take more than an epic collapsing tower to take them down. Now, Spinel’s entire body spun like a rudder as she pushed the inflatable raft across the sea. She had no idea how Steven had managed to fit it into his backpack. The rest of the Gems, Steven included, sat inside, watching the horizon for land. Pitch black night covered them, and the ocean water was freezing cold. Spinel had been making propeller noises to try and distract herself from the frigid temperature, but Pearl had told her to stop after half an hour.

With another hour of sailing, they finally washed up on the shores of Beach City. Spinel pushed the boat onto the sand, then collapsed next to it. Her body felt cold, twisted, and tired. She swore she was still spinning despite lying still on the ground. 

Pearl knelt beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Spinel. You did a good job today.”

“I wanna blanket,” Spinel moaned. She felt Amethyst pick her up and sling her over her shoulder. Garnet had picked up the now sleeping Steven, and they all marched up to the house.

Amethyst deposited Spinel on the couch, then threw one of the blankets over her. Spinel sighed in relief, feeling her legs again. Garnet tucked Steven into bed, then returned downstairs, speaking in a hushed tone. 

“He’s ‘out like a light’ as the humans say.”

“Of course he is,” Amethyst said. “His first mission! And he did… okay...ish. Right?”

Pearl pressed a hand against her mouth in thought. “Well… we _ did _ lose the spire. But…”

“We lost the spire,” Garnet said, “but we gained something even better. Steven has the ability to think outside the box and come up with solutions we would never consider. He kept cool even under pressure. And he has boundless optimism, courage, and inspiration. He still needs to focus, and he also needs to learn when to be completely serious. But, those are things we can work on as we go.”

Spinel looked up at her. “Soo… he passed?”

Garnet stared straight ahead. “... C-.”

Amethyst snickered. “Hey, that’s fine with me. If I were in school, I’m pretty sure I’d be a C student at best.”

Spinel grinned, her energy returning. “Well, we just got back from the ocean, so I guess we’re all _ sea _ students!”

Pearl and Amethyst groaned. Garnet was silent.

“No need to be so blue, guys!”

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. “Spinel.”

“You’re just salty ‘cause I got the best jokes!”

Garnet walked off, shaking her head.

“_Water _ you mad at? I’m the one who was a propeller for over an hour!” Spinel whisper-yelled. 

“Good night, Spinel,” Pearl said with one last exasperated sigh. One by one, the Gems entered their respective rooms within the temple, leaving Spinel on the couch. She finished drying herself off and warming up before lifting the upper half of her body to the loft.

Steven was tucked into his bed, mouth hanging open as he softly snored. His trusty cheeseburger backpack rested against the bed frame, the last of the soggy bagels hanging out of the tomato pocket. 

Spinel rested her cheeks in her hands and watched him for a minute. He had done really well today, especially since his powers hadn’t shown up even once. She was super proud of him… but she also felt guilty. To Steven, this had all been real. Real mission, real danger, real consequences. The Gems had taken turns assuring Steven that losing the spire wasn’t _ too _ bad, and that he had still done well.

The truth was, losing the spire wasn’t a loss at all. Spinel wanted to tell Steven that, to assuage any lingering fear he might have. But in doing so, she would have to tell him the whole thing was a test, and that would undercut any feeling of accomplishment he had. 

But not telling him meant she was lying to him! And she hated lying to him! She hated keeping secrets! 

Spinel stretched her body back to the couch before her watching of Steven became creepy. She’d leave that to Pearl. 

In the end, Spinel supposed _ not _ telling Steven the truth was the lesser of two evils. He’d get to keep his confidence this way. And like Garnet said, he’d technically passed! So, it didn’t matter, right?

“Great, _ another _ secret to keep from him.” Spinel had been here before: promising to keep a secret because it was the lesser of two evils. She sometimes wondered what was the point of the truth at all if it only caused pain. She got up and moved to the temple gate: a pale blue door decorated with a five-pointed star in the top center. A gem decorated each tip of the star with a sixth one in the center. The gem in the upper right corner lit up a dark pink, and the bottom of the door rippled and folded up like theater curtains.

Spinel stepped through, and the curtains closed behind her, leaving her alone in her room. In the mad juggle of defending the world, supporting her friends, and helping raise Steven, Spinel’s room was a tranquil and quiet reprieve from it all.

A large grassy field sprawled out before her, at least a mile in every direction. A curtain of water cascaded down at the back end, flowing into a shallow pool. A bright sun shone overhead, illuminating a clear blue sky. There were random objects scattered about here and there; things Spinel had collected throughout the ages. A catapult, curtains from the Globe Theater, a dragon kite, an old radio, a dismantled plane from one of the human wars. A large trampoline sat underneath an old but healthy cherry blossom tree.

She wasn’t nearly as bad as Amethyst, though Spinel _ did _ think she may have inspired the other Gem’s hoarding behavior. Spinel just took in things she found fascinating or fun. The radio had been her favorite before television came along.

A small garden sat in the middle of Spinel’s expanse, protected by a low wall of stone. Flowers of all kinds grew in large planters, while an assortment of wildflowers grew directly from the ground near the center.

Years ago, Pink had tried to teach her how to garden, but Spinel had over-watered them or cut too many leaves off whenever she tried. After the war ended and the Crystal Temple had been built, Spinel decided she wanted to try again. To this day, she wasn’t entirely sure why. Pink, the Garden, they both brought up painful memories and feelings. But the act of gardening, of caring for plants and watching them grow; it gave Spinel a sense of satisfaction she couldn’t explain.

She rotated the flowers out every season. Right now she had an arrangement of daffodils, camellias, magnolias, lilacs, and tulips. They added a wonderful splash of color to the endless fields of green.

Spinel waddled over to a large shelf near her cherry blossom tree. Organized by ‘most fun’ to ‘best to dance to’ were vinyl records Spinel had collected during the recording era. Tonight, she felt like something in the moderate range of fun. She snagged a record and stretched up to the top of the shelf where the record player sat. 

“Let’s hear that ol’ ragtime!” She set the record down and put the needle on. After a few scratchy warbles, music filled the room, and Spinel gave a happy wiggle before reaching for her watering can.

She stretched herself all the way over to the pond, filled up the can, and sprang back to feed her plants. They all got a healthy sprinkle, Spinel singing along to her record as she moved the can back and forth. Water and sunlight were all they needed today; she’d check the soil and prune them later.

With the flowers watered, Spinel took a seat under the tree and watched the cherry blossoms dance in the breeze. This was her least favorite time of day: when Steven had to sleep and the rest of the Gems were too tired to do anything. To be fair, she was pretty exhausted too. A quick nap wouldn’t hurt, and it would pass the time. 

Spinel leaned back and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she let her mind drift away. With the day she had had, it was easy. She was a little sad the Lunar Sea Spire was gone. It _ had _ been really pretty. But Pearl was right: it had been built on the backs of Gems, many who had ended up joining the rebellion. 

She shook her head. Now was not the time to think of such sad thoughts. Instead, she filled her mind with stars and soft pillows and warm milk. Her record slowly faded into the background, and she felt her head droop.

Then, Spinel’s eyes snapped open. She glanced about, looking at the tall pink pillars around her, green ivy and vines snaked around them. She could faintly hear a fountain spitting out water somewhere behind her. Hedges and trees and flowers grew all about, filling the area with an abundance of colors, yet pink remained the dominant one. 

Spinel looked down at herself. She was dressed in her pink shorts again, and her jacket was gone. She stood in the center of a pink promenade. Looming above her was a tall altar with a warp pad at the top. 

_ The Garden? _

Why was she here? Hadn’t Pink come back for her already? Hadn’t she already won the game? Spinel tried to move, but her feet were rooted to the spot. She couldn’t move her arms either. She could only twist her head about, yet even then, something in her mind told her she was being disobedient. 

“Pink?” Her voice bounced through the Garden, but no one responded. Spinel didn’t understand. Had she done something wrong? Was she on time out? She was sorry for whatever she did! She’d do anything to fix it, as long as she didn’t have to play this game anymore.

She never liked this game.

Unable to move, Spinel could only stare at the altar, praying Pink would come back soon and release her from this prison. A rose petal drifted down and landed on the tile in front of Spinel. She watched it lose its color before it shriveled up and turned to dust. 

_ How long have I been here? _

What was taking Pink so long? Was Spinel not playing the game right? She just wanted it to be over. She wanted to go play with Pink and Pearl and all the other Gems. She really missed Steven.

A heavenly ring sounded through the Garden, and Pink Diamond appeared on the crystal warp pad in a flash of light. Spinel wanted to scream in delight, but her voice seemed frozen like the rest of her. She could only watch as Pink slowly made her way down the stairs, her head bowed so that Spinel couldn’t see her eyes.

It was agony waiting for Pink to descend. It felt like she was never getting any closer. In fact, as Spinel watched, every time Pink stepped down a step, another one appeared below it. Pink didn’t seem to notice; she just kept walking. 

Spinel tried to yell to her, tell her about the trick the Garden was playing, but her voice still refused to work. Pink stepped and stepped and stepped, never getting any closer. Spinel was so close to her freedom! Pink had come back, so she had technically won, right? Why couldn’t she move then? Why was she being forced to watch Pink hover just out of reach?

She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe Pink wasn’t even there. But would that be better or worse than having her trapped on an endless staircase? Spinel opened her eyes and almost recoiled. Pink loomed over her, her face twisted into a furious grimace.

“P-Pink?” 

“Why can’t you just follow orders, Spinel? Stop being a nuisance!” Pink yelled, her eyes flaring.

Spinel’s own eyes flew open and she startled up to her feet, wildly looking around her room. Her breath came out in short gasps, and a pressure sat in her chest, like someone was squeezing her gem too hard. 

“Just… just a dream, Spinel. You’re not there anymore.” Her eyes fell on her own garden in the middle of her room. Why did she keep this memento of Pink’s cruel game? She knew better. Every time she watered them and tended to them, her minded wandered to that infernal game. Yet… she also remembered the good times spent in the Garden… when Pink actually laughed and played with her.

Spinel gripped the sides of her head. What was wrong with her? A few good centuries did not counterbalance the thousands of years of… of emotional torment eating at her! Yet she couldn’t bring herself to just get rid of these flowers. After all, they hadn’t tried to abandon her. 

A sharp, burning sensation spread through Spinel’s core, familiar but detested. She grit her teeth at the image of Pink Diamond sitting in her mind, smiling like nothing was wrong. Spinel clenched a fist, turned, and punched the sakura tree, adding another dent to it. Blossoms drifted down onto her head, like soft pink tears.

Spinel unclenched her fist and sighed. The searing heat slowly resided, leaving Spinel empty. No hobby should have been worth this pain. She looked at the flowers again.

_ But… they _ are _ pretty to look at. _

With another sigh, Spinel resigned herself to same outcome she always did when she had this thought process. The flowers would stay. She just had to bury these feelings a little deeper. And maybe not sleep after tending to the garden.

“Amethyst, stop!”

“Just gimme the food, Steven!”

Spinel cocked her head before looking eastward. Over the hill came… Steven?

He ran from an enthusiastic Amethyst, holding her arms above her head like cartoony monster. In his hands was a plate of waffles with syrup, whip cream, strawberries, and… popcorn? Steven’s eyes widened with relief as he spotted Spinel next to the tree.

“Spinel!” he cried, running up and hiding behind her. “Amethyst is trying to eat our together breakfast all by herself!”

“I’m hungry!” Amethyst yelled with her trademark mischievous grin. She dove at Spinel and Steven, but Spinel quickly enlarged her hand to the size of a mattress and halted Amethyst in her tracks. 

“Together breakfast?” Spinel asked, deflating her hand. She shook her head. “Wait a sec, Steven, how’d you even get in my room?”

Steven looked wistfully at his waffles. “Well, I wanted to make up for yesterday, so I thought I could make breakfast for all of us and we could eat together. But you were all gone and Garnet was busy.” He looked up, eyes shining with excitement. “But then, I followed Pearl into her room and fell down a waterfall, and then Amethyst tried to eat the breakfast, so I ran through a tunnel and then fell down a long hill and ended up here.” 

Amethyst dropped her hungry Gem act and gave Steven a sympathetic frown. “Dude, we keep telling you, don’t worry about that. So what if we lost the spire thingy. You pass—”

“_Ahem _!” Spinel loudly cleared her throat. 

“Pass-paa-practically!” Amethyst saved it with a wide grin. “Practically did the whole mission by yourself! Statue or no statue, you were still awesome!”

“I guess,” Steven said, halfheartedly. He held his waffles over his head. “But, I still wanted us to sit together and have breakfast. Like friends do.”

“Awww, Steven, that’s so sweet of you!” Spinel gushed. 

“Good luck getting Pearl to eat,” Amethyst said under her breath. Spinel nudged her.

Luckily, Steven was to busy making a quick three-sixty rotation, taking in his surroundings. “Spinel, your room is really pretty!” He looked at the flowers in the garden. “I didn’t know you liked flowers!”

“Oh, um, yeah, it’s just a little hobby I do.”

“They look great!”

And with that, Spinel knew the flowers had to stay. 

There was a sudden rumble, and both she and Steven looked to Amethyst. She looked down at her stomach. “Heh, guess I’m still… _ hungry! _” She lunged after Steven who yelled and took off in a run. 

“Amethyst, noooo!”

“Just a bite! Hahahaha!”

Spinel laughed at their antics, feeling a knot loosen in her chest. Maybe a few more good memories in here would drown out the lingering pain. She could even teach Steven how to garden if he wanted. 

Noticing how far he and Amethyst had already gotten, Spinel broke into a run after them, a renewed grin on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I've heard of playing with your food, but this is ridiculous!" —Spinel fighting the waffle monster.
> 
> Aside from the canonically plot important episodes (Ocean Gem, The Return, etc) most chapters from here on out take place in between the episodes, like the lead-in or aftermath. While having Spinel around does change some dialogue and how events might play out, the outcome is relatively the same. This isn’t true for every episode of course, so there will still be chapters that are episodes written out, but only when Spinel has a more distinct impact either then, or will do something that changes something else later down the line. Butterfly effects!


	6. Night of the Living Island

Spinel gave the sail line one last tug and tied the knot into place. “Sloop is shipshape and set to sail!” She admired the mainsail fluttering in the evening breeze.

The Gem Sloop, their old sailing ship that had lasted surprisingly well through the ages, bobbed up and down on the water, its sapphire body almost blending into the ocean. The pattern on its sails looked like faceted gems, so detailed that, if the wind hadn’t been blowing, one might have mistaken them for actual gems. 

Garnet stood at the edge of the small, wooden dock. She stared out at the horizon and adjusted her visor. “Let’s hurry before the seismic tremors reach the town.”

“I can’t believe one of the corrupted Gems became an entire island,” Pearl said as she settled into the sloop.

“It’s more like an infection,” Garnet said. “And now, the Gem has enough control of the island to move it.”

Spinel hopped into the boat, earning her a glare from Pearl as the sloop bobbed dangerously. “Well then, let’s go do what we do best! Where’s Amethyst?”

“Here!” She jogged down the beach and onto the pier. “Just told Steven where we were headed.” 

Once she and Garnet were settled into the boat, Spinel let the line go and pushed them away from the dock. A sharp breeze pushed them toward open water. Spinel felt the usual pang of guilt that came with leaving Steven behind, but even she was sensible enough to know a living island was too dangerous for him. Didn’t stop her from feeling uneasy.

“Guys, wait! I wanna come too!”

The Gems turned their attention back to land, where Steven ran down the length of the beach. He hesitated at the edge of the water, but waded in, holding his hands above his head. 

Spinel’s mouth dropped open upon taking a closer look at Steven’s hands. Instead of fingers, there were miniature… cats? Tiny felines of different colors, all of them yowling at Steven as he splashed his way toward the sloop. Both mystifying and horrifying, Spinel didn’t know whether to laugh or panic about Steven’s safety.

“C’mon, you can make it!” Amethyst cheered.

Pearl clapped her hands against the sides of her face, tagging in as the distressed parent for Spinel. “Steven, what’s going on?”

“Nothing!” He hid one hand behind his back, but Spinel could hear the meowing from here. The water became deeper as Steven tried to continue his advance, forcing him to paddle, but that only earned him a dissonant hiss from his other cat hand. 

Seeing Pearl’s withering glare, Steven sheepishly said, “I just… might have accidentally turned my fingers into cats.”

Amethyst covered her mouth to hide her snicker.

“We have to stay and help Steven!” Pearl and Spinel cried simultaneously.

“We can’t,” Garnet said, not turning from the bow of the sloop. “This is a tectonic emergency. We can deal with Steven when we come back.”

Spinel looked from Garnet to Steven, the latter slipping further away. “But, but, but!”

Pearl clenched her fists and growled before jabbing a finger at Amethyst. “I blame you for this!”

“Eh, that’s fair.”

She turned her attention back to Steven. “Just stay calm! We’ll be back soon!”

The look of dejection on Steven’s face as they sailed away was enough to break Spinel’s heart. She wanted to hop out of the boat and hug him, but knew she had to let him go this time. 

“I knew he wasn’t ready to learn how to shapeshift!” Pearl said, gesticulating wildly.

“Hey, I tried to tell him to start small. It was just  _ one _ cat finger this morning,” Amethyst said, getting comfortable.

“He’s gonna be okay, right?” Spinel asked, her wild imagination already forming worst-case scenarios. “They’re not hostile, are they? What if he gets stuck like that?”

“Both of you, calm down,” Garnet said from the front of the boat. “I’m sure Steven will be fine. You need to have a little more faith in him.”

“I have plenty of faith in him,” Pearl said defensively. “I just… worry. Humans can’t shapeshift. Who knows what’ll happen?”

“Look, the faster we bubble this island, the faster we can get back,” Amethyst said with a dismissive wave. “But Garnet’s right. Steven will be fine. Probably.”

Spinel set her mouth to a determined line. Faith or no faith (and she had  _ tons _ of faith in Steven) she couldn’t stand the thought of him possibly being in trouble and not doing anything about it. Amethyst was right—the faster they worked, the sooner they could get home.

“Garnet, which way is the island?”

“South by southwest.”

Spinel hopped out the back of the boat and stretched her arms out to grab the sides. “Hang on!” She spun the lower half of her body like a propeller and gave the sloop a burst of speed, knocking Pearl off her feet. They skipped over the water as Spinel spun faster and grit her teeth while the waves grew choppier the further out they went.

Amethyst jumped up and threw her hands in the air. “Woohoo! Wave party!”

They crested over a large wave, catching air for several seconds before splashing into the ocean again, sending seaspray everywhere.

“Spinel, I’m just as concerned as you are,” Pearl said, getting to her feet and using the mast for support, “but perhaps you could slow down just a little bit?”

Spinel made a note of discontent in her throat but relented her speed a notch. The waves were still strong as the sun set over the horizon and only grew stronger as they neared the island.

“The Gem must be moving,” Garnet said. “Any slight movement is going to set off a tremor.”

“So, how are we gonna stop this thing?” Amethyst asked. “Oh, oh, is it Alexandrite time?  _ Please _ tell me it’s Alexandrite time!”

“Maybe. It depends on where the gem is located, and how hostile the island is.”

Stars blinked to life one by one over their heads. The pink and orange sky transitioned to a deep purple before finally fading to black, leaving a half-moon as the only illumination on the open water. The temperature dropped sharply, reminding Spinel of their cruise home from the Sea Spire. Her teeth chattered, but she pressed on regardless. 

“There!” Garnet pointed out to the silhouette of a small chunk of land. It  _ had _ to be their target, for large crystalline spires were catching the light of the moon and shining like beacons. 

The water rippled, and a wave rushed toward them, surging in size as it drew near. Spinel sharply banked the sloop to the left to try and ride it instead of tackling it head-on. Water towered over them, eclipsing the island and the sky. Spinel could see where the wave petered out as it began to crash down upon them.

“Dude, we’re not going to make it!” Amethyst shouted.

Spinel put in an extra burst of speed, narrowing her eyes. The sloop teetered to the side as the swell collapsed on them, calm waters just yards ahead. With a mighty shove, Spinel launched the sloop out of the wave, leaving herself to be shoved into the deep. 

The wave’s forced pushed her deep under, spinning her around and around until she couldn’t tell up from down. The darkness didn’t help matters. When she finally gained some control of her movement, all she could see was jet-black ink in all directions.

_ In a water emergency, your Spinel also acts as a flotation device. _

Spinel inflated her belly like a balloon and felt herself pulled to the left, which turned out to be up to the surface. She broke through the water and deflated herself before casting a look about. 

“Over here!”

Twisting her head around, she found the gem sloop and its occupants drifting closer toward the island shore. The waves were still choppy, but far from the colossal wall that had tried to drown them. Spinel paddled her way toward the boat and helped push it the remainder of the way until it was shored onto the beach. 

“Woah,” Spinel said in soft awe, marveling at the sight before her.

Silvery veins of crystal crisscrossed up and down the beach, trailing into a dense forest, where half-crystallized trees stood, thick gem cuts jutting from their branches or their trunks encased in a crystal cocoon. Crystals weren’t just growing on the island, however; they were sucking the life out of it. Dead leaves were scattered about, and the organic parts of the trees still exposed to the world were withering and gnarled. 

From their place on the beach, Spinel could see small hills rising up deeper on the island, the grass there looked to be brown and limp, and jutting from the ground were the tall crystal pillars that caught the moon’s light. 

Crystal shrimp crawled about the beach, nibbling on seashells or uselessly lying about. Spinel casually kicked one that was getting too close to her foot.

Pearl bit her nails. “This is worse than I could have thought.”

“It would almost be pretty if it wasn’t killing the nature,” Amethyst said.

Spinel knelt down and felt one of the silver veins. It was cold and hard, and digging her hands into the sand around it, Spinel felt it go deep into the soil. “Will poofing the gem really return the island to normal?”

Garnet was silent for a moment. “I can’t be sure. It  _ will _ stop it from moving and causing more seismic—”

The ground heaved and groaned beneath them. All of them collapsed into the rippling sand as the island shifted, causing waves to fan out in all directions. A loud cracking sound reached their ears, and from a nearby cliff, another crystal spike jutted out.

“We’re running out of time.” Garnet jumped to her feet. “We’ll split into two teams to cover the island. Pearl, you’re with Amethyst. Spinel, with me. We need to find the core and poof it.”

Pearl summoned her spear and gave it a twirl. “Right. Come on, Amethyst, we’ll cover the east side.”

Amethyst shot Spinel a quick ‘I’m mad you got the  _ fun _ partner’ look before running after Pearl. Spinel, meanwhile, pulled her mallet from her gem and gave Garnet an obedient salute. 

Garnet raised her fists, and her gauntlets appeared over them in a flash. “Be ready for anything.” She pounded her fists together before marching into the forest.

Dead leaves crunched and turned to powder underfoot. Spinel moved quickly, eager to be done with the mission so they could get back to Steven. She tried to hold onto the belief that he was fine, but her mind continued to come up with worst-case scenarios, some not even remotely relevant to the cat finger situation they had left him in. 

“Spinel,” Garnet said from somewhere behind her.

“What—ooof!” Spinel crashed into something solid and fell onto her rump. She rubbed her nose and looked around, finding only an expanse of darkness with vague silhouettes lurking within. “Who turned out the stars?”

A strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her up. “The gem must have created a natural defense system. Look.” 

Spinel squinted and looked around. Though her eyes had trouble, she could  _ hear _ what the island was doing. The slithering of creeping vines surrounded them, along with the crackling of growing crystal. Walls of the mixed materials grew and reinforced themselves, creating narrow passages. These crystals were darker than the ones on the hill, negating any light that flitted through the ceiling it created.

Behind her, Spinel could still see the sand on the beach. To her left, the passage curved deeper into the forest. “It’s a maze.”

“For now,” Garnet said, strolling forward. “Let’s find a way through before anything changes.”

Spinel kept behind her, trying harder to focus this time. The crackling and slithering kept her on edge. It felt like the entire forest was watching them, and something was waiting to grab them at the next turn. Speaking of turns, around the next bend, the path split into three directions.

“I can look ahead,” Spinel said, extending her neck down the right-hand path. Eyes better adjusted to the dark, Spinel quickly weaved her way down the wild corridor. shapes. Aside from the occasional shrimp, nothing stirred, making the forest even eerier. She turned her head around one corner, and in a hundred feet, around another. She could see two shapes standing in the dark, but as she crept closer, they started to look familiar.

Spinel came to a stop in front of Garnet’s stoic face. The rest of Spinel stood beside her, a long rope of neck extending down the hall. Her shoulders slumped. “Uugh. One sec.”

She recalled her head, zipping backward and around corners until she reconnected with herself with a small  _ boink _ .

“Well, that leaves just one path,” Garnet said, marching left. It looked the same as the other path, so much so that Spinel wondered if they were even making progress. She twirled her mallet in her hand, making tiny grunts in the back of her throat at every turn they made. 

How long had they been in here now? How long had they been away from Steven? The knot in Spinel’s stomach tightened, and she twirled her mallet faster, the walls looking like tempting objects to smash.

They turned down a dead-end, a thinner wall of vines waiting in the shadows. Spinel let out a yell and raised her weapon. “I can’t take this anymore! We’re busting through!”

“Spinel, wait!”

But she had already swung, disregarding Garnet’s warning. The first hit sent a splintering  _ crunch _ through the forest. Wood and crystal shrapnel flew back against their faces. Spinel had managed to make a small dent. She swung again, chipping off more debris and forming a small opening. As she drew back a third time, the ground trembled, and a haunting moan echoed from deeper in the forest.

Spinel hesitated. “Uhh, what was—”

A vine whipped out and slapped her across the face. The ground trembled again, and she stumbled backward, caught by Garnet.

“Are you all right?”

Spinel rubbed the welt across her cheek. “Yeah. But, what’s going—”

She was cut off again by another thick vine striking down from the ceiling. Garnet grabbed it and gave it a fierce tug, ripping it down, roots and all. “The gem has control of the forest! It’s sensing danger so now, it’s retaliating!”

A jagged crystal shot up from the ground inches from Spinel’s foot. She clambered away and took a defensive stance. “Okay, that might have been my bad.”

Garnet punched the crystal shard and delivered a second one to the wall Spinel had begun work on. “We’ll just have to hurry and fight our way through.”

Several tendrils crept up behind Garnet, and Spinel swung hard, knocking them away. They recoiled for only a moment before reaching out again. Spinel flattened one against the ground, but another wrapped around her left arm and pulled her back.

Garnet paused her demolition to grab the vine and rip it apart, but two more took its place. Spinel smashed them both so Garnet could punch the wall again, but even as she did, vines and roots began to slither up to cover the hole.

“This isn’t working!” Garnet shouted. “We have to find another way! Retreat!” 

Biting at a tendril that had gotten too close to her face, Spinel turned on her heel and ran, swinging her mallet to keep the path clear. Gnarled roots broke through the ground and snatched at their legs, forcing Spinel to make unsteady hops to move forward. She coiled her legs into a spring and bounced over a large root ripping free of the earth, only to get ensnared by the vines reaching down from above.

“Spinel!” Garnet reached for her, but a new crystal shard pierced the earth, trying to impale her. 

Spinel flattened herself to the thinnest margin and escaped the canopy’s clutches. She hit the ground and wildly swung her mallet as dozens of vines grabbed at her from every side. She extended her arm and spun herself like a top, keeping her opponents at bay. It was a sound strategy until one reached down and grabbed her by the pigtail, giving it a hard yank. 

“Ow!” Spinel stopped and swatted at it. “That’s just rude!”

“Duck, Spinel!” Garnet commanded. She held her fists straight out in front of her. 

Spinel saw what was coming and didn’t need to be told twice. She ducked just as another tendril swiped at her. Garnet’s fists rocketed forward, smashing vines out of the way until it collided with a wall, demolishing it. She ran for it, her fists retracting back to her. Spinel jumped after her, hustling as the island already began to repair the hole.

Garnet jumped through first, narrowly avoiding the creeping crystal. Spinel made the dive, but a rogue vine grabbed her foot and tried to pull her back through the hole. Garnet grabbed her by the arms and pulled, with Spinel nullifying her elasticity. With a painful tug, Garnet managed to rip Spinel free and scrape her leg through the hole just as it sealed. 

“It’s a good thing I’m durable,” Spinel said breathlessly, examining the tears in her slacks and the abrasions she had acquired. 

“We’re not out of this yet,” Garnet said, pointing ahead. The ground rumbled again as if to emphasize her point. They had jumped into a wide clearing filled with uprooted trees and upturned soil. Looking up, Spinel could at least see the stars again.

They were halfway across the clearing when the earthquakes intensified, upsetting their balance. A small fissure ripped open and a light glowed from within. Emerging slowly, twice the size of the Gems standing before it, was an arm constructed purely from crystal. It shone a light blue under the light of the moon, flexing its jagged claws and jerkily twitching about.

Spinel puffed out her cheeks, restraining herself from screaming. “I’m sick of the place!” She spun her arm like a pinwheel and threw her fist forward, doubling its size and it sailed through the air. “I just want to get back to Steven!”

The crystal arm snapped forward and grabbed Spinel’s fist, stopping it in its tracks. Before Spinel could think, ‘uh oh’, the arm lifted her up and slammed her against the ground, then swung her around in the air like a lasso before throwing her at Garnet. They crashed together, but Garnet held her ground, catching Spinel in a full embrace.

“Spinel.” Garnet’s voice was hard, but her grip was gentle. “You’re acting too rash. I know you’re worried about Steven, but you have to believe he’ll be okay without us and focus on the task at hand. If we don’t stop this, then he and the rest of Beach City will  _ really _ be in trouble.”

Spinel exhaled, going limp in Garnet’s grasp. “I know. I’m sorry. I just… I’m just…”

“I know.” Garnet smiled. “You have a big heart. But you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. You out of all of us should know he’ll be fine.”

Spinel sighed again, looking away. “You make it sound so easy.”

Garnet tightened her grip and leaped to the side as the crystal hand came down, spraying dirt and dust everywhere. She set Spinel down and raised her fists to the monster. “It takes practice and focus. I’m trying not to lose my cool fighting this monster while the island is ripping itself from the ocean. And we still haven’t found the core. But panicking and rushing it will just make things worse.”

She was right. Of course, Garnet was almost always right. Spinel watched the monster arm flail at them, the duo standing just outside of its reach. She looked about, wondering how they could beat it. Being made of crystal, she had a good feeling Garnet could just punch her way through it. But there was still the forest surrounding them. She  _ really _ didn’t want to go back into that maze.

Spinel turned her head skyward. “Garnet, I have an idea! I bet I can find the core better from the air!”

Garnet smiled and nodded. “Just be careful.” She grabbed Spinel around the middle, braced her knees, and flung Spinel into the sky. The hand snatched at her but was far too slow. 

Spinel sailed higher and higher until the entire island was splayed out before her. When she reached the crest of her flight, she sucked in a deep breath and held herself aloft, ignoring the rules of gravity for a moment. She could see the beach, littered with crystal shrimp, the ever-growing forest, its gnarled trees stretching their branches further and further out, and the barren hillside, where more fissures had opened up and crystal monoliths protruded from the ground.

_ If I was a gambling Gem, I bet it’d be over there with the tall crystals. _ Spinel extended her arm and grabbed hold of one of the jutting spires, pulling herself toward it. Unfortunately, with her velocity, she crashed face-first into the side of the crystal before sliding down a hundred feet and landing in a heap on the ground.

“Ow.”

Spinel pulled herself up and rubbed her nose. Not her best landing, but at least she had gotten here. The ground heaved once more, and Spinel leaped to one side as a fissure opened beneath her and the ground crumbled away. She made a few more hops to get to solid land, spinning her arms to keep her balance.

“Gotta find that core, fast!” She ran the circumference of one of the crystal pillars, skidding to a halt as she caught sight of something pretty conspicuous. “That was easy.”

Embedded into the pillar was a large pale blue eye. Bulging veins spread out from it in all directions, melding into the crystal and the earth beneath it. It stared unblinking at Spinel with neither malice nor fear. Just indifference. Spinel stared back and couldn’t help but wonder if this was an old friend, or a Homeworld combatant that had been corrupted into this form.

She raised her mallet, letting the usual feelings of sadness and reluctance run their course. “Sorry, but it’s for your own good.”

A vine ripped from the earth and slapped her across the face with enough force to send her flying several feet. She landed hard on her back, dazed and cheek stinging. That vine had connected right over the first welt she had received. She pushed herself up, then rolled to the side as the vine came around for another swipe. As it came down again, Spinel stretched her torso out of the way, then snapped back and smashed it with her mallet. Turning to swing at the eye, Spinel found two more crystal arms reaching up from nearby fissures to grab at her. 

She followed through with her swing anyway, but the arms proved surprisingly fast, intercepting her attack with a palm and grabbing hold of her mallet’s head. It tugged, but Spinel refused to let go, being hoisted into the air instead. The other hand reached for her, no doubt intending to squeeze until she popped.

A spiked whipped lassoed its thumb and slammed it to the ground, and a spear soared through the air and struck the hand grasping Spinel’s weapon, lodging into its knuckle. The hand dropped Spinel, and she quickly slammed her mallet into its elbow, sending several large cracks running up its arm.

“Did that tickle your funny bone?” she growled.

“Oh good, we’re just in time for the jokes,” Amethyst said dryly, coming up on Spinel’s right.

“Spinel, are you hurt?” Pearl asked, pulling a second spear from her gem. 

Spinel rubbed her cheek. “I’m fine. But if that thing slaps me again, Imma lose it.” Looking over her friends, she found they hadn’t escaped without their own share of scratches and bruises. She expected fighting a living island would be difficult, but this night had proven to be plain not fun. 

The arm with the numerous cracks made a fist and brought it down on the Gems. They scattered in time, but the second hand swung and punched Pearl off to the side. She rolled back up and hurled her spear again, embedding it in the palm this time. The hand closed around it, and there was an audible  _ snap _ . 

Pearl let out a frustrated growl. “I  _ liked _ that one!”

Spinel was pretty sure all their weapons were the same but didn’t feel like commenting. Amethyst used her whip to pin down the damaged crystal arm, and Spinel slammed it again. More cracks splintered through it and pieces chipped off. While it reeled back, Spinel threw her arm forward, aiming her mallet at the eye, emotionlessly gazing at the battle before it. Just before she could hit it, a wall of crystal burst from the ground to intercept her attack. 

“Oh, come on!” If there was any consolation, Spinel left a sizeable dent in the wall. Before she could swing again, a root snared itself around her leg and yanked her back, dragging her toward a fissure. She dug the hilt of her mallet into the ground to slow her speed and allowed her lower half to stretch out.

Pearl slashed the vine, and Spinel snapped forward, flopping against the ground. She sprung up and ran toward the crystal wall, swinging her weapon as hard as she could. The dent crumbled open into a sizeable hole where the eye peeked out. 

One of the hands grabbed Spinel by her jacket and flung her into the air in one swift motion. She tumbled head over heels before landing in the dirt once more. She could  _ hear _ the ground shifting as another earthquake rocked the island. 

She got to her feet, watching Amethyst spin dashed into the damaged arm, shattering it into dust. Spinel let out a whoop of delight, cut short by the rise of a new arm.

Pearl jumped back, landing by Spinel’s side, a new bruise on her face. “We can’t win like this! Any time we get close, it doubles its defenses!” 

A war cry rang out above them. Garnet dropped down from the sky and slammed both her fists into the enemy hand’s open palm. It shattered into a thousand pieces and sent up a plume of dust. Garnet leaped and landed by her fellow Gems.

“We need a plan of attack,” she said, just as  _ another _ hand rose to replace the one just shattered.

Spinel looked at the two hands, the roots wriggling from the ground, and the crystal wall blocking the eye. Altogether, it was almost impossible to get through. But…

“What if we all attacked at once and distracted different parts of it?” Spinel suggested.

Garnet scanned the battlefield, holding a hand to her visor. “Amethyst, take the hand on the left, I’ll take the one on the right. Pearl, keep those vines down. Spinel, break through that wall. Let’s move!”

Amethyst curled into a ball and revved against the ground, sending up a trail of smoke before barreling at her target, slamming full force into its wrist. She bounced off, and as she uncurled herself, she threw her whip and grabbed it by the thumb. 

Garnet ran at the other hand and swung her fist. The corrupted Gem caught it, and Garnet brought her other fist around, smashing a large chunk out of it. It curled its own fist and brought it down, forcing Garnet to hold it back with both hands.

Pearl spun her spear overhead before slashing through the slithering tendrils. More pushed out of the earth and reached for her ankles, but she put a halt to them with a beam of light from her staff tip, cutting them in half.

With the way forward clear, Spinel ran forward, forming a plan of her own. She had a hunch the second she broke through the wall, another would pop up. She extended and curled her left arm like a loaded spring while drawing her mallet arm back. Spikes jutted from the earth, trying to impale her as she got near, but her quick reflexes allowed her to snake around them.

From the corners of her eyes, she saw both arms crumble to dust and felt the ground shake as another pair rose to take their place. She wouldn’t waste this chance. Aiming for the dent she had already started, Spinel swung her mallet as hard as she could. 

The crystal wall shattered, and in the split second between the pieces falling apart and a new one forming around the glowing eye, Spinel rocketed her arm forward and punched the corrupted Gem. Crystal locked around her arm like a vice, but she felt her knuckles connect and heard the satisfying  _ poof _ of a dissipating Gem.

Cracks ran up the monolith the eye had been embedded in, and shrapnel rained down around Spinel. The new arms collapsed to the ground like severed marionettes, and all of the roots and vines fell limp. The earthquake stopped and everything fell silent.

Spinel let out a sigh of relief. She tugged her arm back, but found it locked tight. This time she sighed in annoyance. She extended her fingers and groped around the ground for the Gem shard while her friends gathered themselves. She made a face, feeling tiny pieces of the crystal spire but nothing that felt like a whole Gem.

Pearl recalled her spear and began brushing herself off. “Well, this was an absolute nightmare.”

Amethyst fell back onto her rump. “Tell me about it. That’s the first time a tree has slapped me back.”

“Guys,” Spinel called, still trying to find the shard, “can someone give me a hand?”

At her request, the island quaked harder than ever. The fissures split further open, and all of the monoliths crumbled to pieces, raining down on the Crystal Gems. The wall holding her arm fell away, and she threw her hands up to block the falling shards.

When the crystal rain stopped, Spinel dove to the ground and rummaged through the crystal pieces, growing more frantic as she dug through the pile. “Guys, I can’t find the Gem!”

A geyser of water gushed from a crevice, and pieces of the hill broke off into the ocean. Garnet dove next to Spinel and began grabbing handfuls of shards. 

“The island is falling apart!” Amethyst yelled as the ground split right underneath her. 

Spinel tossed a dud over her shoulder. “Why? We beat the monster!”

Garnet put a hand to her visor, but a spike in seismic activity threw her to the ground. She grabbed a handful of gem shards, bubbled them, then sent them to the temple. “The Gem merged too deep with the island! With it gone, it can’t hold together! Bubble what shards you can and let’s move!”

Spinel grabbed two fistfuls of shards and bubbled them both. The shaking ground pushed most of the rubble toward the nearest fissure and into the flooding maw. Spinel grabbed what she could, watching the rest fall into the rising water and praying none of them had been the corrupted Gem they had been fighting all night.

Pearl and Amethyst both scooped up an armful as the ground fell apart. Another geyser broke through the ground and washed the remains of the monolith away. 

“Time to go!” Spinel cried. She wrapped her arms around her fellow Gems and pulled them to her sides, then coiled her legs and sprung into the air. The hill broke apart as they sailed through the air, and a set of geysers drowned out the forest.

Spinel landed on the beach, where the crystal shrimp crawled about like nothing was wrong. The sloop was thankfully still grounded in the shallows. The Gems piled in, and Garnet gave them a hard push to get them into open water.

Everyone turned and watched the island fall apart and sink into the ocean, throwing rough waves at the sloop and shoving them further out to sea.

Pearl ran a hand down her face. “It’s the Sea Spire all over again!”

“At least we stopped it from getting to the mainland,” Amethyst said.

“Except we might not even have the Gem,” Garnet said, crossing her arms. “Which means we might have to do this all over again.”

Spinel bowed her head. Garnet’s voice wasn’t accusatory in the slightest, but Spinel felt it was still her fault. If she hadn’t gotten her stupid hand stuck, she could have found the gem before everything went crazy. Garnet  _ just _ told her not to act too rash. Spinel  _ thought _ her plan was sound, but as usual, she was dumb and wrong.

_ “Why can’t you just follow orders?” _

Spinel flinched at the voice in her head and sank lower into her seat. “I’m sorry.”

Garnet put both hands on her shoulders. “Don’t blame yourself, Spinel,” she said knowingly. “You were the one who got the monster to stop in the first place.”

“Too bad I couldn’t catch it,” she said bitterly.

“We don’t know that for sure. We did our best—all of us. And even if we didn’t bubble it, we’ll be better prepared next time we fight it.”

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah! And next time, we might even have Steven with us!”

“Absolutely not!” Pearl yelled.

Spinel listened to them bicker, too tired to join either side or help propel the boat. They sat at the mercy of the waves and the wind, slowly making their way back to shore. The sun rose behind them, turning the sky a soft pink. They had left Steven alone for almost twelve hours, and Spinel felt that anxious knot tighten in her stomach. Messing up a mission was one thing—she couldn’t bear the idea of coming home to a hurt or sick Steven.

Land came up on the horizon, and in another hour, the Gems were home. To their surprise (and Spinel’s relief) Steven sat on the dock, kicking his feet and looking no worse for wear. His cat fingers were completely gone.

Pearl still rocketed out of the boat before it fully docked to look him over. He didn’t need  _ two _ mother hens fretting over him, so Spinel took her time, letting the sloop come to a stop before climbing out.

“They’re all gone,” Pearl said in amazement, holding up Steven’s arm. “Well, this just proves you should always listen to me, and  _ never _ listen to Amethyst.”

Amethyst shrugged. “Eh, that’s fair.”

Garnet stepped up behind her. “No, it proves that you should have more faith in Steven.” She glanced toward Spinel. “And yourselves for raising him.”

Steven gave them a huge grin. “Yeah, that would have been a huge  _ cat- _ tastrophe!”

Pearl and Amethyst gave a weak chuckle. Garnet said nothing. Spinel found Steven’s grin infectious and smiled as well.

“But I’m feeling much better  _ meow! _ ”

Spinel giggled while the rest of the Gems groaned.

“What’s that matter, guys? Cat got your tongue?”

Amethyst rolled her eyes and walked toward the temple. “Yep. He’s fine.”

Pearl pointed at Spinel. “I blame  _ you _ for this one.”

Spinel’s smile widened, some of her post-mission blues fading away. “That’s fair!”

“I had all morning to come up with cat jokes!” Steven said, hopping up and down on the old pier. “Everything’s  _ purrr _ fect, now that you’re all back.”

Nonplussed, Garnet followed Amethyst and Pearl back to the temple.

“I guess they’re not  _ feline _ it, Steven,” Spinel said between giggles.

“But we’re just  _ kitten _ around,” Steven said, nudging Spinel in her side.

“These jokes are the cat’s pajamas!”

“I’ve got nine lives worth of them!”

“I suppose we could put a  _ paws  _ on them!”

They stopped and grinned at each other. “Nah!” they said in unison before chasing after the other Gems. 

It was a momentary distraction from her failure, but it was a welcome distraction nonetheless. And Garnet was right: if the Gem was still out there, they’d be much better prepared next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We're gonna go fight a living island!"   
I can't be the only one who really wanted to see that, right? Writing it out proved harder than I thought.  
This chapter took so long because I lost my drive for a second, and because I have other stories I write in the MLP fandom that take priority.   
Yes, I just named dropped Alexandrite. To make my life easier, Alexandrite and Obsidian are the same, just add Spinel. That's one less fusion I have to create.


	7. Bubble Duty

Spinel hated the Burning Room.

Firstly, it was _ far _ too hot for her liking. She preferred warm climates because the cold made her limbs all stiff, but the excessive heat from the lava pool made Spinel sweat uncomfortably. Secondly, it was right below the Crystal Heart, meaning Spinel could hear the rhythmic beating every few seconds which, frankly, unnerved her just a _ teeny _ bit.

And third and most important, she was surrounded by the remains of all her fallen friends, and quite a number of enemies. Floating over her head, safe in their bubbles, were the remains of corrupted, defeated, or even shattered Gems. Spinel could even name some of them: Snowflake, Helix, the Azurite Twins, Chrysoberyl. 

Spinel kept her head down, trying her hardest not to look at them. But with so many filling the room, it was hard not to catch sight of one once in a while. She flinched or sighed or squeezed her eyes whenever she saw one, trying to shoo away the associated memory.

It was hard though. For a brief period, Spinel had had countless friends. They all laughed at her jokes, cheered on her antics, and were just genuinely glad to have her around. She had been truly happy for the first time in a very long while.

Then, in an instant, they were all gone.

Spinel sat cross-legged in a corner, as far from the lava pool as she could get. In front of her was a large pile of blue crystal pieces, remains of the monolith on the living island they had defeated two nights ago. After failing to properly capture the corrupted Gem, Spinel had taken it upon herself to comb through the shards they had bubbled in the vain hope of finding it. After two hours of searching, she had no success to report.

She took a fragment in her hand, gave it a squeeze and a shake, brought it up to her eye, then tossed it over her shoulder. Gem gems had a certain feel and luster to them. Behind her sat a larger pile of duds. She was halfway through her search and desperately wanted to take a break from the heat. 

_ You don’t deserve a break. You messed it up. You have to fix it. _

Garnet would chide her if she could hear Spinel’s thoughts. But, Spinel remained resolute. She only had two hundred more shards to get through anyway! Spinel wiped the sweat from her eyes and picked another shard up, examining it, holding it tight, and ultimately dismissing it. In her heart of hearts, she knew the corrupted Gem wasn’t here, but she would be remiss if she didn’t double-check. 

Shard by shard, she went through her routine, her sigh growing heavier and heavier with each expected outcome. Once or twice, her eye caught a potential match, but she was proven wrong each time. She brushed another layer of sweat off and looked down at the last two shards. Why bother hoping? She knew what was going to happen.

Spinel plucked the first one off the floor. She brought it as close to her eye as possible, like it would make a difference. She gave it a firm grasp, shook it, then threw it over her shoulder with more force than she intended. She heard a soft _ plop _ as it landed in the lava. 

_ Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. _ She picked up the last one and held it in her palm. She stared nonplussed at it before curling her fingers around it and giving it a hard squeeze. It crushed under her pressure, turning to powder.

“Well, that’s all of them,” Spinel said to herself, dejectedly. She stood up and looked at the pile of crystal fragments. “Which means the real monster is out there somewhere and we’re going to have to fight it _ again. _ Good going, Spinel.”

She grabbed one of her pigtails and punched the side of her head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Spinel! You had one job! Oh sure, Garnet _ says _ it’ll be okay, but you know she’s mad at you!”

That wasn’t true. Spinel would _ know _ if Garnet was actually mad. Disappointed perhaps. Yes, they were all most definitely disappointed in her, but what else was new?

Slowly, she released her hair and ceased her self-attack. Her attention returned to the pile; the reddish-orange light of the Burning Room gave it an ominous glow. They almost seemed to be mocking Spinel for her failure. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was just her frustrations, but Spinel thought she could hear them laughing at her.

Her anger and loathing spiked again, hearing the soft laughter float through her ears. With a loud roar, Spinel ran forward, grabbed as many shards as could, and flung them into the lava pool, watching with satisfaction as they hissed and melted into the magma.

“Yeah! Who’s laughing now? Dumb shards!”

Spinel dropped her shoulders upon realizing she was yelling at inanimate objects. Again. Her task was done. Time for some cold air. 

Back hunched, she left the burning room and sighed in relief when she entered the beach house. She made a beeline for the freezer, opening the door and shoving her head inside. “Aaaahhh… much better!”

“Hey, Spinel! Come check out Steven!” 

Spinel pulled her head from the freezer. Her fellow Crystal Gems were gathered by the window, with Amethyst waving her over, wearing her trademark mischievous grin. Spinel didn’t want to leave the comfort of the freezer but obliged nonetheless. 

Squeezing herself between Garnet and Pearl, Spinel saw Steven leaning on his bike in the middle of the sand. He appeared to be talking to a girl sitting against the cliff face. She was pretty, with dark skin, long black hair, and large, round glasses. Either she couldn’t hear Steven, or she was ignoring him, for her nose was buried in a book.

Steven fell over on his bike, which finally got the girl’s attention. He sprang up, threw off his helmet, and came running toward the house. He crashed through the door and slammed it behind him, breathing hard. When he caught sight of the Gems grinning expectantly at him, he ran a hand through his hair and tried to look casual.

“Whaddup?”

Spinel sidled up to Steven’s side. “Who were you talking to?”

A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. “What do you mean?”

“The girl,” Garnet said simply.

Steven’s eyes widened. “You saw that?” His face turned pink and he covered his eyes. “She’s just a girl I know… except she doesn’t know me. We’ve never met.”

“How does that work?” Spinel asked.

Amethyst ran over and smushed Steven’s cheeks. “He _ likes _ her!”

Steven smacked her hands away. “I like everyone.”

Amethyst smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Pearl clapped her hands. “Oh, we could set up a play-date! I’ll write up the invitation, Spinel can cook some snacks, oh, we’ll need to find out her favorite tea—”

Garnet held up a hand. “No. Just go talk to her.”

Steven took a deep breath. “Okay.” He pointed to the group. “But you can’t watch this time! It’ll mess up my funky flow.”

“Funky flow?” Amethyst and Pearl parroted, confused.

Spinel covered both their mouths. “We promise, no peeking.”

Steven gave her a grateful smile, then ran to the freezer and pulled out a little plastic bag with a glow bracelet inside.

“What’s that?” Amethyst asked over Spinel’s hand.

“Nooothing!” Steven cried, running back outside.

Garnet shooed them away from the window. “You heard him. No peeking.”

“That means no future vision either,” Spinel said, wagging her finger.

Garnet adjusted her visor. “Fair enough. Did you finish sorting through those gems?”

Spinel immediately deflated. “Yeah. It wasn’t there. I’m sorry.” A gentle hand patted her head.

“I told you, it’s not your fault.”

“But I—”

“Tried your best. But the situation itself fell apart. And next time, we’ll be bettered prepared.” Garnet removed her hand, gave Spinel one more tiny smile, then headed for the temple door.

Amethyst slapped Spinel on the back. “Garnet’s right; stop sweating it! I mess up all the time, it’s no big deal!”

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. “I wish you would take it more seriously, Amethyst. At least Spinel wants to do better.”

“Meh, sounds like too much work.”

The floor gave a sharp jerk and the support beams creaked as the world around them shook. It lasted only a few seconds but left Spinel wildly looking about.

“It’s the island! Where is it? We have to stop it this time!”

“Woah, S.P,” Amethyst said, fanning her hands, “Garnet already said it isn’t the island. _ I _ say it’s just a few earthquakes—”

“And _ I _ keep saying they’re happening too frequently to be normal earthquakes,” Pearl argued.

“It could be another digging monster,” Spinel said.

Pearl crossed her arms. “Well, if it is, we’ll have to wait for it to surface somewhere before we can do anything.”

Spinel straightened up, setting her mouth in a thin line of determination. “Then I’ll go and keep an eye out for it!”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Spinel—”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Pearl said pointedly, glaring at Amethyst. “Just make sure you’re careful.”

Spinel saluted. “Can do!” She sprang toward the door and ran outside, expecting to see Steven and his little friend. Instead, there was only his bike, still lying on its side. 

Down the slope, Spinel found a pile of recently fallen rocks. Hopefully, she could find the monster before it caused any serious damage. Taking a harder look, she failed to find any trace of Steven.

“Must’ve gone into town. I hope they have fun!” Steven making a few more friends was always a good thing. It meant he’d spend less time with Lars.

_ And less time with me… _

Spinel shook her head. She lived with Steven; he _ had _ to spend time with her. Besides, she took priority over any other human friends he would make. Spinel walked along the face of the cliff and into town. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but figured a walk would do her good. She could take the long way up to the lighthouse.

It was another beautiful day in Beach City, with only a handful of clouds painted across the blue canvas of sky. Spinel saw one that looked like a two-headed puppy. 

On a casual Saturday like this, many of Beach City’s residents were out and about, strolling, relaxing, and generally enjoying the day. Spinel waved to Nanefua Pizza as she passed and stopped to say hello to one of the local police officers. Over the years, Spinel had built a few friendships with the humans, mostly from her frequent trips to the grocery store or when she took Steven to the park. She knew the names of almost everyone in town and had made most of them laugh at least once. The exceptions were Lars, because he was kind of a jerk, and Onion. Because he was Onion.

Creepy children aside, Spinel liked the citizens of Beach City. Garnet often sent her out to be an ambassador for the Gems whenever a monster attack resulted in property damage. Spinel didn’t mind. Humans led such varying lives, it was fun to check in on them and see if anything had changed. 

It was one of the things she and Rose bonded over.

Spinel climbed the grassy hill behind the temple to the lighthouse sitting at the top. She could see all of the city from here, sprawled out like a children’s playset. Looking out, she almost forgot what she was looking for amidst the peace and tranquillity.

A short rumble quickly reminded her. “Right, digging Gem thingy.” She cupped a hand around her eye and extended it into her handy telescope. She focused first on the beach, expecting a giant worm to break through the sand like in that one movie Greg had shown her. When nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, she turned her attention to the town proper. It was fun watching humans scurry around from place to place. Still, there was no sign of trouble or burrowing monsters.

Spinel sighed. If Steven were here, they could at least pretend to be superheroes again while looking for monsters. Doing it alone was just boring. Maybe she could turn into a drill and tunnel after it.

_ Focus, Spinel. _

But focus was _ boring _. She wondered if Steven was getting along with his new friend. Maybe they wouldn’t mind if she joined them.

_ Focus! _

_ Fine, fine! _ Her lack of focus _ was _ partially responsible for the island disaster. Spinel redoubled her focus and continued her scan of the town. She rotated her neck toward the harbor, finding nothing unusual there either… except for that crowd of people gathered around a sunken boat. Only it’s bow remained unsubmerged.

“That can’t be good.” Spinel snapped her eye back and bounced down the hill. She made a large hop over the car wash and landed on the beach bordering Rehoboth Bay. She had no idea where humans got the names for some things, but they sure were fun to say! 

“Rehoboth, Rehoboth, Rehoboth,” she sang under her breath as she ran toward the docks. She put her serious face back on as she approached the small crowd. A fisherman was on his knees, leaning over the remains of his boat, tears in his eyes.

“What happened?” Spinel asked, though she had a good feeling about what had transpired_ . _

The fisherman looked up at her and said, “I-I don’t know! I came in for lunch and when I came back, she was just like this! What do I do now?”

Spinel reached out and pat him on the back. “Hey, it’s okay. You can still fish from here! And I’m sure one of these other super nice sailors will let you tag along until you get your boat fixed!”

Several of the onlookers smiled and nodded their heads. That’s why Spinel loved Beach City; the people here were always willing to help each other.

After a few more words of encouragement, Spinel took her leave. She had hoped to at least get a clue about the Gem monster, but it seemed no one had seen the attack. The sun sank behind the trees west of town and gave the world a friendly orange glow. With all the residents beginning to turn in for the day, Spinel decided she would update the Gems before starting a night watch.

She was halfway around the cliff to the temple when the ground gave a quick shake and rubble rained down on her head.

She brushed it off and huffed, “This is an unfair game of hide ‘n seek.” If only she had x-ray vision.

Amethyst was raiding the fridge when Spinel stepped into the beach house. “Yo,” Amethyst said, coming up with the mayonnaise jar.

Spinel put her hands on her hips. “You better not have eaten the bell peppers I had in there.”

Amethyst shifted her eyes left and right. “Uuhhh…”

“Amethyst, that was for Steven’s dinner! Now my stir fry is ruined,” Spinel whined.

“What, I was hungry!” She screwed off the cap for the mayo.

“You better get a spoon for that!” Spinel was already testy. She didn’t need to see Amethyst eating with her hands again.

With a roll of her eyes, Amethyst pulled a spoon out from the utensil drawer and hopped onto the counter. “So, did you find the digging Gem?”

Spinel slumped her shoulders. “No, but it _ did _ sink a boat and made one of the fishing guys sad.”

“Bummer.”

“Tell me about it.” Spinel took a seat at the table. “That’s two Gems I couldn’t catch this week.”

Amethyst licked some mayo off her spoon. “Spinel, you’re way too hard on yourself sometimes. So one Gem got away, big deal. And we just learned about this one _ today _. And haven’t we always stopped them before someone got really hurt?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then stop worrying about it. Let Pearl be the perfectionist. You’re funner than that.”

Spinel knew Amethyst meant only to be supportive, but couldn’t stop herself from inwardly flinching at the implication that she was just ‘the fun one’. She was a Spinel, she was _ supposed _ to be fun. She _ liked _ being fun. But she also wanted to be helpful and responsible… and trusted. She wanted to be more than just the jester Homeworld saw her as.

But that was a slippery slope Spinel didn’t want to slide down at the moment. She would just take Amethyst’s advice at face value and try to relax. She could make up for her failure later.

She became aware of how empty the house was and asked, “Where’s Steven?”

Amethyst snickered. “He’s probably still on his date.”

“He’s too young to be dating… or out past sunset without adult supervision!”

“Ugh, you and Pearl need to stop moming him so much.” 

Spinel stuck her tongue out which Amethyst playfully reciprocated. “Well, I _ was _going to go back out and look for the monster, but I guess I’m going to look for Steven now.”

Amethyst hopped off the counter. “I’ll go with you! I wanna see how his date’s going!”

“It’s not a date.”

The temple door glowed and opened up, and Garnet and Pearl rushed out. “Come on, Steven’s in trouble!” Garnet yelled.

Spinel was on her feet instantly. “What? Where?” She squinted her eyes. “Wait a sec, how do you know? You promised not to use your future vision on him.”

“I didn’t. I was looking for the Gem. It finds him on eight different timelines.”

“Good enough for me!” Spinel threw the door open and bounded down the stairs. Garnet pointed them toward the pier, where Spinel could see a tall, squirming silhouette under the cover of the freshly fallen night. It dove under the pier and wrapped around the wooden legs, chasing after two smaller shadows.

Spinel extended her arms and hugged the other three Gems. “Going up!” She bounced off the sand and propelled them into the air. Just as they reached the height of their flight, the pier collapsed into a heap of wood and dust, obscuring all three silhouettes.

“_Steven! _” all four of them cried. They hit the sand and ran forward. As the dust cleared, Steven and the girl from earlier came into view, no worse for wear. Lying in the sand in front of them was a pink and white gemstone.

Steven turned around at their approach. “Oh, uh, hi, guys!”

Pearl gaped at the destroyed pier. “Steven, what happened? What did you do?”

“He was _ amazing! _” the girl cheered, stars in her eyes. 

Steven blushed. “Really, you mean it?”

She gave an enthusiastic nod.

Spinel watched him return the bracelet he had run out the house with earlier while Garnet bubbled the remains of the monster. “So, was that the thing causing the earthquakes?” But Amethyst and Pearl weren’t listening, they were too busy smiling widely at Steven and his new friend.

“Well, are you gonna introduce us?” Amethyst asked coyly.

Now even pinker than before, Steven said, “Sure, uh, Gems, this is Connie. Connie, meet the Gems.”

Pearl leaned down to get closer to their height. “Steven was _ very _ excited to meet you. Right, Steven?”

“Eheh, I mean…” 

Spinel didn’t think Steven could get any pinker. She was eager to meet Connie as well, especially now that the monster had been dealt with, but Steven already looked like he was ready to melt. Thankfully, Garnet came to the rescue and grabbed Pearl and Amethyst.

“You’re messing with his funky flow.” She looked in Spinel’s direction, and Spinel was sure there was a wink behind that visor. Garnet carried them off, allowing Steven and Connie to finish their conversation. 

Spinel gave them some space by going to assess the damage to the pier. Surprisingly, it was still in fairly good shape. Whatever Steven had done only destroyed half of it, and it could be fixed with some hard work and duck tape.

“Despite the constant danger, I had fun today,” Spinel heard Connie say. She was trying not to eavesdrop, but now she was curious.

“Really? So, does that mean you wanna hang out again sometime?”

“Sure! I mean, if my parents don’t ground me. I’m already out way longer than I said I would be. I actually should go. But, here…” 

Spinel turned around to see Connie hand Steven a slip of paper. Spinel couldn’t fight the giddy smile on her face, but she restrained herself from jumping over and embarrassing Steven further. 

“I live outside Beach City, but my dad comes in for work a lot. So, we can meet up and do something… hopefully less dangerous.”

“Totally!” Steven held the paper to his chest like it was a life preserver. “Umm, do you need help getting back to your parents?”

Connie shook her head. “No thanks, I should be fine. See you later, Steven Universe!” Connie turned to Spinel and gave a modest bow. “It was nice meeting you!”

Spinel grinned and waved. “Nice meeting you too, Connie! We’ll see you soon! Steven has lots of toys you can play with!”

“Spineellll,” Steven whined, face pink again.

It got a giggle out of Connie though. She climbed up the slope and jogged back into town. Spinel waited until she was sure they were alone, then rounded on Steven, wearing her serious face.

“What’s this about constant danger?”

Steven jumped. “Oh, um, well, I made a magic bubble around me and Connie, but I couldn’t turn it off… and we might have accidentally fell in the ocean at some point.”

“You made a bubble?” Spinel said with glee. She hopped and clapped her hands together. “Wait until the others hear about that! Your powers are starting to really come in!” She paused mid hop. “_ You fell in the ocean? _”

“It wasn’t that bad! We made it out, see?”

Spinel heaved a sigh. If she had a real heart, it would be pounding right now. She put a hand on Steven’s shoulder and steered him toward the temple. “Just try and be more careful, please.” Considering Steven lived with them, she really couldn’t ask for much more.

As they crossed the beach, Steven asked, “Did you do anything fun today?”

“No. I spent most of the day looking for that worm.” Spinel puffed her cheeks out. “Darn thing put a hole in someone’s poor boat.”

She didn’t notice the line of sweat on Steven’s brow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!


	8. Spinel's Day Off

Spinel kept one hand in front of her face, the only shield she had against the howling wind and whipping sands. She occasionally peeked between her fingers to make sure she was still following Garnet and was always rewarded with sand stinging her eyes. With her naturally thin and floppy form, the harsh weather of the wasteland proved to be a challenge for Spinel. Every step took effort, and a particularly strong gust could shove her backwards at any moment.

She tried not to complain though. She had volunteered to assist Garnet with this mission: obtaining the location of the Heaven and Earth Beetles. Said mission had led them to a barren wasteland of shifting sand and brown clouds. Spinel could barely make out the outline of a small mountain range in the distance before having to hide her stinging and watery eyes again.

“Check-in, Spinel,” Garnet said over the roar of the wind.

“There’s sand in my boots! Which is really impressive since they’re a part of me!”

“Hang in there. We’re almost to the mountain.”

“Sure, if it’s not buried by the time we get there!”

Luckily for them, it wasn’t. The mountain provided some relief from the whipping winds, allowing Spinel to drop her hand and wipe some of the dirt from her face. They stopped at the foot of the climbing path, allowing Spinel to catch her breath. She was already tired and they still had to climb the mountain and make the return trip. 

She put her hands on her knees and sighed. “Garnet, how are you not even a little tired?”

“I do aerobics.”

Spinel sucked in a deep breath and stood up straight. She wasn’t going to slow Garnet down, no sir! She just had to work a little harder. And pray the wind would stop trying to carry her off like she was Dorothy. 

They ascended the mountain, painted red from the abundance of clay the wind-exposed. The path was jagged and uneven, sending the duo (or trio in some sense) up and down steep hills, around tight corners, and over narrow ravines. Rocky walls blocked most of the harsh air currents until they reached the end of the natural path and had to carve out a trail of their own. Said trail took them along a wide cliff side where they had to hug the wall and balance on a thin ledge to get across.

Spinel wasn’t afraid of heights—she could bounce herself into the stratosphere if she wanted—but edging along a narrow cliff face with a sharp gale trying to throw her off into a chasm of sand and rocks _ did _ create a few butterflies in her stomach. She thought of flattening herself to her thinnest from and traveling along like a living portrait, but the rocks would still scrape against her gem.

A rumble came from above as the cliff came to a bend. Rocks fell from on high, tumbling down the mountain straight for Spinel and Garnet. Leaping off the narrow path, Garnet smashed one into a thousand pieces, raining debris on Spinel’s head. She managed to shimmy out of the way of a larger boulder that hit the ledge and broke off a large chunk of the path. 

Garnet jumped again, breaking another boulder, but as she came back down, her foot missed what was left of the road and she teetered backwards. Spinel shot her arm out and roped it around Garnet’s midsection. She still toppled off the side, dragging Spinel down with her. Spinel made a loud, “Eeeep!” as she went over the edge. Her hand reached out behind her and caught hold of a sharp protrusion that managed to hold her and Garnet’s weight.

“You okay?” Spinel called down to Garnet, dangling ten feet below her.

“Thanks to you,” she called back.

Spinel looked left to a larger portion of the cliff. It wasn’t _ too _ far out of range, but Spinel couldn’t get there while holding Garnet. “I’ll get us out of here, just hang in there.” She noted Garnet’s silence and added, “That one wasn’t intentional!”

With some strain, she lifted Garnet and stretched her arm over to the cliffside. Carrying one person with a single noodle arm proved more difficult than lifting three with a bear hug. Still, Spinel managed to pull it off, safely setting Garnet down. Garnet then grabbed Spinel’s arm and gave her a gentle tug. Spinel let go of the ledge and snapped toward Garnet, landing safely in her arms.

Garnet smiled and patted her head. “Good work, Spinel.”

Spinel blushed and beamed at the praise, then let out a silent sigh of relief when Garnet turned away.

Aside from another minor rockfall, the rest of their climb proved uneventful, if tedious. Both of them were covered in dirt, sand, and scrapes by the time they reached the summit. Weathered and worn Gem ruins sat at the top. Pillars and half-crumbled walls remained. It didn’t look like it had been a large construct, perhaps just an outpost or some sort of storage. Or maybe one of those places for smart Gems to just sit and think. They were looking for the Heaven and Earth Beetles after all, some of the wisest of Gemkind.

“There should be a clue somewhere around here,” Garnet said. “Be careful sifting through the rubble. Oh, and don’t touch that pillar.” She pointed at the first pillar in a small row. It leaned dangerously, and Spinel was surprised the wind hadn’t knocked it down already.

They set to work, slowly moving rocks around and wiping up dust from the floor. Spinel found the remains of a warp pad, cracked completely in two with chunks missing from the sides. She sighed at the idea that this mission could have been much easier. They still had to walk all the way back.

Spinel flipped a boulder over, sending spiders scuttling away. She took a break from shifting rubble and looked at the scenery around her. It was hard to tell with the thick dust clouds obscuring the sky, but Spinel could feel the heat of the sun right over her, telling her they had spent all morning on this trek. Steven had still been asleep when they left. She hoped he was doing something fun. And that he had eaten the breakfast she had made.

“I think I found something,” Garnet said.

Spinel hurried over, dusting her hands off from her excavations. She stretched her neck to look over Garnet’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Garnet held a Gem holo pad, used for note taking. A small crack ran across the screen but besides that, it looked fine. “There’s not much on here, but it notes where the Heaven and Earth Beetles were headed to next. And the date is close to…”

Spinel squeezed her eyes shut. “The Corruption Light.” The memory flashed in her mind, as vivid and bright as the trio of lights in the sky that night. She could see Rose screaming for her, reaching a hand out, feel the heat as the blast came down, missing her by the skin of her teeth, hear the collective scream of every Gem who didn’t find cover.

Then, silence.

“The Earth Beetle was headed to a volcano in the south,” Garnet said somberly. “The Heaven Beetle is somewhere at the Sky Spire.”

“The Sky Spire? But we’ve been there a hundred times!”

“Never while looking for it. And never to the top.” Garnet handed the holo pad to Spinel. She took it and looked over the Gem runes flashing across the screen. There was a lot of boring philosophical talk, a few mentions of the war, then mention of where the Beetles were heading next.

Spinel’s eyes grew heavy reading the text. She tossed the holo pad over her shoulder and looked to Garnet, who had a smooth rock in hand. Before Spinel could ask if they could finally leave, a calamitous racket exploded behind them. They both turned around to see the precariously leaning pillar crashing into the one in front of it. That one, in turn, crashed into another. The domino effect continued, knocking down the remaining three and kicking up a heap of dust. 

When the racket settled and the dust cleared, Garnet crossed her arms and looked down at Spinel. 

“Heh… yeah, that was my bad.”

******

Spinel’s shoes hit the warp pad and the light around her faded away, revealing the cool and calm inside of the beach house. She sighed loudly and flopped onto the ground, a layer of dust rising off her. The quiet only lasted a second before the door banged open and Steven ran inside, all smiles.

“Spinel, Garnet! Welcome back! Where’d you guys go? Did you bring me a present?”

Garnet held out the rock she had picked up.

Steven lit up. “Woah, a rock! Thanks, Garnet!”

Spinel felt Amethyst nudge her with her boot. “You okay, S.P?”

“Yep. Just enjoying nice, smooth ground.” Spinel rolled onto her back and saw Amethyst was dripping wet. “Aqua games?”

Amethyst grinned and nodded. “Today it was checkers!”

“Oooooh, fun!”

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Anyways, was your mission successful?”

Garnet gave a short nod. “We’ve located the Heaven and Earth Beetles. We’ll split up to retrieve them.”

Amethyst crossed her arms and shot a glare at Pearl. “Fine. But I’m going with _ not _ Pearl.”

_ Oh no, they’ve been fighting again. _ Spinel inwardly groaned and picked herself off the floor. She always let them vent to her at separate times before having them come together and say sorry. It was always a short term fix though. 

Pearl turned her nose up. “Well, that’s perfect because I don’t want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway.”

Steven bit down on his new rock, eyes moving between Amethyst and Pearl. “Is her talking about me?”

Spinel masked a giggle with a quick cough. “Okay, I’ll go with Amethyst this time and—”

“No.” Garnet held her hand up and pointed. “Steven, you go with Amethyst and Pearl. I go alone.”

“_What? _” three voices cried. Steven’s eyes widened with excitement.

“The Earth Beetle is at the bottom of a lava lake, and I’m the only one who can swim in lava. The Heaven Beetle is at the top of the Sky Spire. It’s safer.”

Amethyst slouched forward. “You mean _ boringer, _” she grumbled.

“It’s ‘more boring’,” Pearl corrected.

“So you agree with me.”

Pearl ran a hand down her face, pulling at her bottom eyelids. “Let’s just go. Come on, you two.”

Spinel stepped away, anxiety roiling in her stomach as she watched the others step onto the warp pad. She weakly raised an arm and said in a distant voice, “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Spinel,” Pearl said, already sounding tired.

“Steven,” Garnet called. “Remember to keep the harmony.”

He pointed his fingers at her as he backed onto the warp pad. “No problem! Today’s gonna be all about Har-mon-” The warp pad went off, whisking them away and leaving the house quiet again.

Spinel whipped her head toward Garnet, breath catching in her throat. “L-listen, if this is about those pillars, I said I was sorry! You know I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s not about the pillars. You didn’t do anything wrong, Spinel,” Garnet said calmly. “But I do wish you would be a little more careful.”

It brought Spinel’s anxiety down, but not by much. “Then, why couldn’t I go with them?”

Garnet crossed her arms and looked toward the warp pad. After thousands of years together, Spinel could see the thoughtful look behind Garnet’s visor. “Pearl and Amethyst have an… interesting dynamic. They’re almost polar opposites, yet when they _ do _ work together, they produce great results. You do a good job at bridging the gap between them, something I think they’ve come to rely on a little too much.”

Spinel pressed a finger to her bottom lip as she thought. She really didn’t mind patching things up between the two of them. Sure, it was hard sometimes and cost several hours of listening to them vent before Spinel could actually cheer them up and always left her tired as a result. But, it kept them together. So long as she got a smile out of them, everything was fine.

Returning to the matter at hand, Spinel still wasn’t sure why she couldn’t have gone with them. Like Garnet said, she was the bridge. She was a good bridge too! “So you sent Steven with them instead to…?”

“If Steven is going to be a part of this team, he needs to learn the group dynamics. The good and the bad. He needs to learn how to mediate, in case you’re not there.”

“But I’m always gonna be there!” Spinel protested. She understood Garnet’s intention, but seriously, why wouldn’t she be there for her friends? “Besides, if they’re going to the Sky Spire and you’re going to a lava lake, what am I supposed to do?”

Garnet affectionately pat her head. “You’ve been working hard. You deserve a day to yourself. Relax. Do something fun.”

Spinel tried her hardest to _ not _ interpret that as ‘you’d be in my way, stay here and don’t cause trouble’. She gave Garnet a lopsided smile and nodded. “I can do that.”

“Good. I shouldn’t be long.” Garnet summoned a pair of scuba goggles from her gems and lifted it over her visor. She gave Spinel one last thumbs up before stepping up to the warp pad and beaming away. Spinel was stricken by how silent the house was with everyone gone. She stood in place and stared at the warp before blinking hard and turning away.

“Calm down, Spinel, they’re all coming back. They _ have _to come back.” That didn’t stop her chest from tightening or her mind from trying to conjure images of the Garden. “You’re not stuck here. You can go wherever you want. You’re also talking to yourself again.”

Spinel took a few calming breaths and walked to the kitchen, where dirty pans and plates still sat out from when she had made Steven breakfast before departing with Garnet. She had the day off, she could do whatever she wanted. Usually when she had a day off from missions she played with Steven. Now he was off on a mission and she was home alone. How the tables had turned.

“You’re not being punished,” Spinel reassured herself. “Garnet isn’t mad about the pillars. You _ have _ been working hard. Make the best of a bad situation. Also, stop talking to yourself.”

But the absence of her voice left the house quiet. Spinel hated the quiet. She had spent a thousand years in silence. Spinel grabbed the frying pan and turned on the sink faucet, sighing at the sound of running water. Grabbing the sponge, she began to scrub off the bits of egg clinging to the surface. Maybe none of her friends needed her on their missions, but she could still make herself useful here. 

She finished with the frying pan and set it in the drying rack before reaching for the plates still left on the counter. As she reached for Steven’s she noticed a sticky note beside it. She picked it up, finding Steven’s handwriting. ‘Thanks for breakfast, Spinel! It was delicious!’ Underneath it was a smiley face. Spinel smiled in turn and tucked it into her gem. At least Steven found her useful. She was the only Gem who had bothered learning how to cook.

Once the dishes were done, Spinel went on to clean up the living room while the T.V. played in the background. It didn’t take long, and before she knew it, Spinel found herself lounging on the couch. 

“You know, between going on dangerous missions that involve hunting down corrupted versions of our old friends and/or enemies or staying home with nothing to do… I’d rather go on the missions.” Spinel sighed and retrieved a paddle ball she kept stored in her gem. It was a simple way to pass the time. Spinel’s current record was one-hundred and forty-two consecutive hits.

It took a few tries before Spinel really got going. Her eyes followed the little red ball as it bounced up and down. Spinel couldn’t fathom how Steven had put up with this every time they went out without him. She had gotten into the nineties when she took her eyes off the ball and glanced at the warp pad. The ball hit the side of the paddle, flew off its trajectory, and missed upon return, ending Spinel’s streak.

She sighed and put the toy away before getting to her feet. Staying in the house was just going to give her more anxiety than she needed. With no destination in mind, Spinel stepped out of the house and into the glorious afternoon sunshine gracing Beach City. Just down the steps was a rather new addition to their beachside home.

Curled on his side, half-basked in the shade of the porch deck was Steven’s lion aptly named Lion. Unlike any lion Spinel had seen previously, this one was entirely pink. Spinel approached him and gave his fluffy mane a stroke. He opened an eye and peered up at her, looking disinterested as he usually did.

“Hey, Lion! You wanna go for a walk?”

Lion opened his mouth and gave a mighty yawn before closing his eyes and burying his muzzle beneath his meaty paw. Spinel didn’t know what she expected. He was incredibly docile, but also incredibly lazy. She couldn’t figure out how a lion from the middle of the desert had become so tame, or why he had an odd affection for Steven. Or why he was pink. In the end, Spinel supposed it didn’t matter. Steven had always wanted a pet, and as long as Lion didn’t try to eat him, the Gems were fine with it.

Leaving the pink beast, Spinel traversed across the beach toward town. She could always make conversation with the townsfolk. Better yet, she could talk to the one person who was used to being left out of things! A bit harsh but it was true: Greg had no part in their Gem adventures, though part of it was from his own volition. Goal set, Spinel set out for the car wash, waving to everyone she passed along the way. 

Greg was waving a car off as Spinel approached. She had half a mind to surprise him with a flying tackle but knew humans were fragile at his age. Instead, she gave an enthusiastic wave and shouted, “Hi, Mr. Universe!”

He turned around and gave her a smile. “Hey, Spinel. What brings you over?”

“Just came over to see my favorite full human!”

Greg kept his smile but raised an eyebrow. “Really? As sweet as that sounds, I find it a little hard to believe.”

Spinel clasped her hands behind her back and tapped one of the puddles left behind by the car wash hose. “Well… Garnet gave me the day off while everyone else is out on a mission, and…”

“You’re feeling a little lonely?”

She lifted a hand and held her thumb and index finger a centimeter apart. “Maybe just an eensy-weensy teeny-tiny little bit.”

Greg chuckled. “Well, I’m flattered you came to me. Come on, we can sit down and chat.” He led her toward the van and opened the back door. Spinel climbed up inside and leaned against the backseat. Greg lounged against the wall, using his thick hair as a cushion.

“So, a day off, huh?”

Spinel nodded, twiddling her thumbs. “Garnet went lava diving and Steven’s with Pearl and Amethyst to help them stop fighting. I don’t think I’ve ever had a day off from missions before that didn’t involve taking care of Steven.”

“I know what you mean.” Greg folded his hands over his stomach and looked up at the ceiling. “I spent every day for eleven years taking care of him. The first day I woke up after sending him to live with you guys, I didn’t know what to do with myself. The car wash business isn’t what you’d call demanding.”

“Did you ever find something?”

Greg made a so-so motion with his hand. “Kinda. I move from hobby to hobby. And whenever I get bored…” He reached for his old six-string guitar. “I can always rely on some music to cheer me up.”

“A hobby, huh…” Normally, Spinel would gladly listen to music to pass the time. But the idea of stepping into her flower ornate room with no one else occupying the temple made her freeze up. Aside from music and gardening, she didn’t think she had any other hobbies. Spending time with her friends was an instinctual need more than anything. Did she really have to stay behind so Steven could learn a lesson? Sure she wasn’t lava proof, but she could have given Garnet some company at least.

“Do you ever feel… I dunno… left out?” Spinel did her best to sound as nonchalant as possible. 

Greg scratched his bald spot. “I mean… maybe a little sometimes. But we had an agreement when Steven was born: you guys teach him Gem stuff, I teach him human stuff. I know when to bow out and not get in the way.”

Spinel folded her hands together. Was that what this was? Was Garnet making sure Spinel didn’t get in the way? No, she would never be so mean. At least, not intentionally. Would she?

“You feeling a little left out, Spinel?” Greg asked.

Spinel snapped her eyes up. “Whaaaat? Pfft, nah! I was just making sure _ you _ didn’t feel excluded! You know you’re welcome by the temple whenever you want. We don’t hunt monsters _ all _ the time.”

Greg didn’t look as convinced as Spinel would have liked, but he smiled anyway. “Thanks, Spinel. Anything else you wanna talk about?”

Spinel drummed her fingers on her chin. “How come you guys park in a _ drive _ way but drive on a _ park _way?”

That got a chuckle out of Greg and pushed the conversation into lighter waters. They spent the next hour chatting aimlessly, Greg often strumming a few chords on his guitar. Spinel would join in by whistling a few notes to create a simple but merry tune. Their fun came to an end when a customer finally pulled into the car wash. Greg set his guitar away and hopped out the van.

“Well, Spinel, if you ever get lonely or want to talk, you know where to find me.”

“Same to you, Mr. Universe!” Spinel gave a chipper wave and skipped off until the wash was far behind her, then slowed to a walk. Someone _ had _ to be back at the temple by now. She walked back along the beach, finding her own footsteps from an hour ago still imprinted in the sand. Lion was still snoozing under the porch. 

Spinel held back a sigh when she opened the front door and found the house still empty. “Well, I can start making lunch for when Steven comes back. Because they have to come back.” Unless something bad happened to them because Spinel wasn’t there to help out. “Ugh, stop overthinking things. And stop talking to yourself!”

She moved into the kitchen and put on her cooking apron. It had ‘kiss the cook’ stitched into the front, along with a picture of Spinel making a winky face. She had just pulled out the bread and cheese to make sandwiches when she heard the warp pad go off. 

Garnet beamed in, a container with a small, multi-gray stag beetle in hand. “Hello, Spinel. Did you enjoy your day off?”

Spinel could have been honest and told Garnet she had been bored and felt left out but held her tongue. Knowing Garnet, there was probably some sort of lesson she was supposed to take away from it. “It was fine.”

“Good.” Garnet set the beetle down on the counter. “I know you don’t like being alone, but sometimes, being by yourself gives a moment to recollect and reflect.”

_ Easy for you to say. You’re a fusion; you’re never alone! _ And Spinel had plenty of moments of reflection whenever she sat under the tree in her room. She brushed it off and examined the gray bug munching on a dried leaf. “So, that’s the Earth Beetle?”

“Yep. It’s almost entirely harmless, so there’s no reason to bubble it. Now we just need the Heaven Beetle.”

Right on cue, the warp pad lit up again, and a blue light struck down upon it. But when it faded, Spinel saw not Amethyst and Pearl accompanying Steven, but—

“Opal?” Spinel cried. She hadn’t seen the fusion in _ years _. She stood with all four hands on her hips, looking like the pinnacle of elegance. The gems on her chest and forehead shone with a brilliant luster.

She opened her eyes and smiled at Garnet and Spinel. “Hello, you two. Long time no see.”

“Hi, guys!” Steven waved from between Opal’s legs.

“Nice to see you again, Opal,” Garnet said. “Do you have the Heaven Beetle?”

Opal’s smile quickly faded and her eyes widened. “Oh no!” Her entire form lit up and her features dissolved, fading into the ethereal glow. Opal shrank down into a writhing blob that then split in two before forming back into Amethyst and Pearl, lying haphazardly on the floor.

Pearl jumped to her feet and pointed accusingly at Amethyst. “You got me distracted!”

Amethyst sat up and rolled her eyes. “Don’t blame this on me. You were the one who was backflipping all over the place.”

Steven ran between them and held his hands out. “Guys, it’s fine!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden beetle, identical to the one scuttling around in the bug container. “Ta-da!”

Garnet plucked it from his hand and dropped the Heaven Beetle into the box where it landed on its back, kicking its tiny legs in the air. “Good job, Steven. I see you were also able to get your teammates to fuse.”

“Yep!” Steven put his fists on his hips and stuck his chest out proudly. “All I had to do was get eaten by a bird!”

“_What? _” Spinel shrieked. “How could you two let him get eaten?”

“Relax, Spin, it’s fine,” Amethyst said, standing up and dusting herself off. “We beat the bird, got the beetle, and Steven’s still standing. He’s not even hurt.”

“Nope!” Steven said cheerfully.

Spinel made a series of noises with her throat, unable to actually vocalize any of her thoughts. She felt Garnet’s hand pat down between her hair buns, and she let a slow breath out from her nose. _ This kid is gonna give me a heart attack someday. _

“You did good, Steven.” Garnet lifted her hand from Spinel and picked up the bug container. “You’ll be great at fusing one day.” She walked past him and opened the temple door, leaving Steven to bask in her praise.

“Yeah… wait…” He let out a loud gasp, stars jumping into his eyes. “I can do that too?”

“Well, you _ are _ a Gem. At least, half a gem, so…” Amethyst shrugged. “Maybe?”

“We’ll focus on fusion training later,” Pearl said.

Steven clapped his hands together and hopped back and forth on his feet. “I can’t wait! Oh, oh! So if Pearl and Amethyst make Opal, what do Pearl and Garnet make? Oh! What do you and Amethyst make, Spinel? Can you all fuse into one super giant woman?”

“Easy there, kiddo, one question at a time.” Spinel held up her fingers and started counting off. “Let’s see. You met Opal. Me and Amethyst make Iolite. Garnet and Amethyst make Sugilite. Me and Garnet make Eudialyte, but we just call her E sometimes. Pearl and Garnet make Sardonyx, and all of us together make Alexandrite!”

Steven, who had been counting along, held up six fingers. “Wait… you skipped you and Pearl’s fusion.”

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Spinel’s face. “Did I?” She gave a sidelong glance to Pearl, who was pink in the face and looking at anywhere but Spinel. “Uhh, that’s because… it’s a surprise! We can’t spoil all of them for you!”

“That’s so cool!” Steven resumed hopping up and down again. “I can’t wait to see them all!”

“In due time, Steven,” Pearl said, having regained her composure. “Fusions are an important symbol of trust and are saved for emergencies.”

_ Yeah… trust. _ Spinel turned back toward the kitchen to continue making Steven’s meal. While she hated doing it, she was glad Steven had bought her little fib. Although, there _ was _ a grain of truth to it. It would certainly be a surprise when and if she and Pearl ever fused. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but this was difficult to write. Hopefully the next chapter will come a lot faster.
> 
> Leave a comment if you're enjoying the story! Comments are what drive my motivation!


	9. The Birthday Pearl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old tradition brings Spinel to a familiar place.

Spinel blew into her pipe, watching the bubbles rise to the ceiling of their beach house before popping. She focused her attention on the living room, nodding in approval at the decorations set up. Streamers hung from the rafters, balloons were tied to chairs, a pile of puzzle games sat on the table, and on the kitchen counter was a lovely cake shaped like a pearl with a single unlit candle.

Everything was _ pearl _fect in Spinel’s opinion. She smiled at her own pun then turned to face her co-conspirators for today’s festivities. Garnet stood with the tiniest trace of a smile on her face. Amethyst slouched in a chair, yawning loudly. Steven rocked from side to side, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Spinel blew into her pipe one more time, then straightened the military cap sitting between her hair buns. “Gems,” she said in a gruff growl, “it’s time. The decorations are set, the sun is up—”

“Barely,” Amethyst grumbled.

“You can sleep when it’s over!” Spinel said, poking her in the side. “The sun is up, and the Pearl is loose.”

“I already checked the temple,” Garnet said, “so she can’t trick us like last year.”

“Which means she’s out there somewhere.” Spinel rubbed her hands together. “I do love a good Pearl hunt!”

Steven stuck his hand in the air. “Ooh, ooh, I have a question!”

Spinel returned to her ‘general’ voice. “Yes, soldier?”

“If it’s Pearl’s birthday, why are we hunting her down?”

Garnet chuckled. “It’s a long story.”

Amethyst straightened up in her chair. “Basically, like, a hundred years ago, Spinel learned what birthday parties were and wanted to throw one for each of us.”

“We weren’t exactly enthused by the idea,” Garnet continued. “But Spinel did it anyway. Eventually, we learned to live with them. They’re actually kind of nice.”

“Of course they are!” Steven cried. “It’s your birthday! You get cake and presents! What’s not to like?”

“Pearl thought they were ‘childish,’” Amethyst said in a posh voice. “So, every year, she’d try to find a way to get out of Spinel having a party for her. Usually, it involved hiding.”

“And that in itself became Pearl’s birthday party. She uses today as a sort of training exercise,” Garnet finished.

Spinel held up four fingers. “There are four key rules! No weapons, no fusions, no future vision, and Pearl has to stay in a reasonable distance from a warp pad. If we can’t find her before midnight, she wins and goes another year without a party. But if we catch her, she has to be a good birthday Pearl and accept her party, including eating her cake!”

“She _ says _ she hates it, but we all know she secretly enjoys the whole thing,” Amethyst said with a smirk.

Steven looked at the cake in question. “How come there’s only one candle?”

It was Garnet’s turn to smirk. “There isn’t a cake big enough to fit all our candles.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “How old _ are _ you guys?”

“I’m this many!” Spinel held up seven fingers. “Times a thousand! Give or take.”

“_What? _” Steven gasped, his excitement returning in full force. “Does that mean you guys live forever?”

“Not quite,” Garnet said. “We don’t age. But we can get injured or die.”

“Oh man, I hope I get to live forever, too!”

_ That makes two of us, _ Spinel thought. She tried not to imagine a world where Steven grew old and died. He only made up a tiny fraction of her near seven thousand years of life, yet she couldn’t see a life without him now. Spinel clapped her hands, snapping herself out of her thoughts and getting the others’ attention. “Okay, we’re burning daylight! Let this year’s Pearl Hunt begin!”

Amethyst jumped out of her chair. “I’m _ so _ gonna catch her this time! Dibs on the battlefield!” She ran over to the warp pad and beamed away before anybody could object.

“Come on, Steven,” Garnet said, picking him up and tucking him under her arm. “Let’s start with the desert while it’s still cool.”

“Woohoo! First Pearl birthday party! Good luck, Spinel!” He waved before the blue light enveloped him and Garnet and shot them off.

Spinel took off her cap and stored it in her gem along with her bubble pipe. “Gotta think like Pearl. Last year, she tricked us by hiding in her room the entire time. The year before that, she hid in the caves. Hmmm, where hasn’t she tried hiding in a while?”

She snapped her fingers. “They just went to the Sky Spire! Which means the layout is fresh in her mind! Which means she thinks she can hide from me there since I wasn’t on that mission! But she’s wrong! Good job, brain!” Spinel ran to the warp pad and hopped onto it. “To the spire!”

The blue light closed around her and launched her up into the warp stream. She stuck her arms out as she rode the stream through warp space, flying at ludicrous speeds from one side of the planet to the other. She never got tired of the tingly sensation her stomach made when she warped. It was like being on a roller coaster. 

As she got closer to her destination, gravity flipped her around to make sure she landed feet first on the Sky Spire warp pad. It was early evening here, with a handful of clouds drifting across the orange sky. Spinel looked up at the looming mountain ranges that preceded the spire itself. It had been a long time since she had been here; she had forgotten how tall everything was. Daunting, but Spinel had already decided she was going to win this year, no matter what!

She bent her legs to spring into action but caught herself just before she bounced up and stumbled onto her face. Pearl would probably be able to see her if she leaped through the air freely. No, she had to be stealthy about this, like Pearl was. 

Spinel picked herself up and started up the stone path that wound through the mountains. She flinched at the squeaky sound her shoes made, hoping Pearl wouldn’t hear them coming a mile away. While she couldn’t jump, she took large steps and used her arms to grab onto trees to cross long distances. She came to a tall rock and stretched her neck over it, using her eye as a telescope.

“You can’t hide from me, Pearl. We’ve been stuck together way too long.” It was hard to make out anything solid with the way the setting sun stretched out the shadows. Spinel was going to have to get closer if she wanted to spot her target.

“_Baaaaa! _”

“Gah!” Spinel tumbled back from her rock, her eye snapping back into its socket. She looked over to see a gray goat staring curiously at her. “Don’t scare me like that!”

It bleated again before taking a bite of grass.

Spinel stood up and dusted off her jacket. “Hey, you haven’t seen a tall Gem with a pointy nose pass by here, have you?”

The goat ignored her.

“Fine,” she huffed, “I didn’t need your help anyway.” She made her way around a bend and through a narrow pass, trying to move as stealthily as possible, a hard feat with her constant squeaking. Luckily, the waterfall she came to masked her footsteps. 

She stopped by the falls and glanced over them, watching the water vanish into the mist below, then turned her attention upstream. There was plenty of foliage for Pearl to hide in. There was also under the water, depending on how deep the river went. Spinel stretched her neck out and shoved her face into the stream. Fish swam by and river weeds tickled her nose, but there was no sign of Pearl. 

Spinel pulled her face out and startled upon seeing the goat standing on a rock twenty feet ahead of her. “When did you get here?”

It blinked at her, then bleated.

“Keep your baaas down. I don’t want Pearl to know I’m here.” Spinel headed up the river, pushing her way into the plants and bushes as she kept an eye out for a hint of bright blue amongst all the green. A tall hill cast the opposite bank in shade; a perfect hiding place. Spinel stretched herself over the water and shifted through the foliage. 

Her search yielded no results. The stream continued further up to another waterfall; maybe Pearl was hidden there. It was always like finding a needle in a haystack with Pearl. Spinel and the Gems had only found her thirty-two out of the one hundred and fourteen times they had done this. Not the best odds to be sure, but that was what made victory all the sweeter!

Spinel slowly combed her way up the bank until she reached the waterfall, then stuck her head through the cascading curtain. She found only solid rock, no hidden caves or crevices. She pulled her head back and jumped to the top, finding a babbling pond, the stream’s source. Looking out, Spinel had a clear view of the Sky Spire from here. There were only a few more hills between her and the structure, and Spinel doubted Pearl would hide at the top. She would have nowhere to go if the Gems cornered her. 

“So either she’s _ really _ well hidden, or she’s not here.” Spinel rubbed her chin. “Come on, think like Pearl.”

“Baaa!”

Spinel turned around, finding the same goat again standing next to the pond. She took a step closer and peered at it. “Pearl?”

It bowed its head for a drink, ignoring Spinel again.

“Not Pearl.” Of course it wasn’t; Pearl _ never _ transformed. Then again, Spinel wouldn’t put it past her if it meant getting out of a party. 

Walking to the edge of the cliff, Spinel’s eyes followed the stream back down the mountain. As the sun sank and night crept upon the spire, Spinel’s job became more of an ordeal. She was tempted to just shout Pearl’s name to see if it would scare her out. 

Miraculously, Spinel didn’t have to do anything. A splash came from the other waterfall that poured off into the clouds, and a figure leaped up from over the side and landed on the rocks. It twirled a spear before jumping back toward the warp pad.

“_Pearl! _” Spinel bellowed. Even from her spot on the cliff, Spinel saw Pearl flinch before making a break for it. “I have you now!”

She bent her knees to jump, but something tugged hard on the back of her jacket. Spinel twisted her neck, finding the goat gnawing on it. She gave it a firm tug, but the goat held fast. “Let go! Go on, shoo!”

Pearl was halfway to the warp pad now. Spinel had gotten lucky once, she doubted she would again. She tugged her jacket once more, but the goat’s teeth were a vice. Spinel tried a different approach and reached behind its ear, giving it a friendly scritch. 

It bleated in satisfaction, releasing Spinel. She launched herself into the air and dive-bombed at Pearl who was mere yards from the warp. Spinel stretched her arms. Pearl threw herself onto the pad. For a brief second, their eyes locked.

Then, with a victorious smirk on her face, Pearl disappeared in a stream of blue light. Spinel hit the warp just as it dissipated.

“Nooooooo!” She pressed her face against the crystal. “I was sooo close!”

Pearl could be anywhere on the planet now. Spinel had her in arms reach and she had slipped away. With a dramatic sob, Spinel lifted herself up. Sure she still had hours to find Pearl, but she’d be lying if she said this hadn’t been demoralizing. Where did she even start looking?

“Think like Pearl. Think like Pearl.” Where was the last place Pearl expected Spinel to look? Spinel always thought that was a silly concept. The last place you’d look is the _ last _ place you looked, _ obviously _. The better way to phrase the question would be: where was the place Pearl least expected Spinel to search? A couple of places came to mind. Spinel couldn’t stand the Arctic, but there weren’t many places to hide in the snowy wasteland. Amethyst was already at the Gem battlefield, so if Pearl had warped there, she was as good as gotten. That only left…

Spinel cringed. She hoped she was right, otherwise, she was taking a haunting trip down memory lane for nothing. She tapped her foot on the warp, and the blue light swallowed her up and sent her spinning through warp space.

Moss greeted her when she touched down on this warp pad. It was stretched thin across the crystal floor, but Spinel could see a faint impression of a footprint. 

“Well, at least I’m in the right spot.” She raised her head, looking at the canyon walls surrounding her. Thick vines and ivy draped the rocks like green curtains. Ancient trees grew on top of the cliffs, their leafy bows blocking out most of the sun's light. The earth beneath Spinel was damp and loamy, and a cool, salty wind blew through the canyon, tousling her hair. It was all so nostalgic.

She marched through the canyon, following Pearl’s footprints left in the spongy ground. The rocky walls enclosing Spinel started to slope downward and widen out until it opened into a dense jungle. There had once been a path that wound through the trees, but it had long since been buried beneath thick tufts of grass. Spinel had walked amongst these trees so many times, she knew where she was going even without the road. Memories, good and bad, crept into her mind as she drew deeper into the forest. Watching Biggs and Snowflake wrestle, archery practice with Hematite, a massive game of hide and seek...

Somewhere ahead, Spinel heard a loud crash, and several birds squawked and took to the sky, rustling the leaves overhead. If Pearl was still trying to be stealthy, she was doing a poor job of it. The terrain sloped downward and the trees started to thin out, allowing shafts of sunlight to reach Spinel. As the ground leveled out again, she pushed through a wall of lush leaves and around a wide tree, and came upon a familiar and heartbreaking sight.

A grassy knoll stretched out before her, littered with old towers and clusters of square, squat buildings covered in rust and ivy, having been reclaimed by the earth long ago. The colors had been washed out of the metal constructs, reducing what had once been bright and colorful encampments to gray, lifeless husks. The smaller buildings all circled around a larger metal fort, now half-sunk into the ground. The entire field backed up to the ocean, sparkling under the midday sun.

Spinel waded through the knee-high grass, tripping and falling on her face when her foot caught on to something. She groped around until she felt a handle and lifted up a broken saber. Placing it blade down into the grass, she continued onward, heart growing heavier with every step as she neared the main fort. 

The former headquarters for the Gem Rebellion.

Another crash came from the lopsided fortress. Spinel couldn’t imagine what Pearl was doing in there. Quietly, she made her way through camp, passing the hollowed-out huts and old barricades. She could still hear the ring of practice swords clashing against one another, the music Jade would make after a successful mission, the laughter from a crowd of Gems as Spinel put on one of her shows.

She wiped a tear away and took a deep breath. The faster she caught Pearl, the faster they could go back home and make happy memories instead of wallowing in old ones. 

Entering the shadow of the fort, Spinel heard more noises coming from within. A snarl, then the _ clink _ of metal against metal, then a gasp. She pulled her mallet out and broke into a run, sliding past the gate and sprinting along the slanted floor. Dust and cobwebs coated the metal interior, and when Spinel turned the first corner, she found herself plunged into a dim gloom. With no windows on the first floor, there was almost no light to see by. Spinel followed the sounds of the scuffle coming from above, stumbling through old, uneven rooms to find the stairs. Furniture, maps, weapons, technology, all of it had been cleared out when Rose decided they needed a new home when the war ended. 

Letting her memory guide her, Spinel found the stairs in a wide room that had once been a communal area. She bounded up them, emerging into a dim corridor lit by the narrow windows along the walls. The snarling and scraping of metal against metal grew louder. Turning another corner, Spinel found herself at the threshold of the war room. Pearl stood at the other end, backed against the wall by what looked like two saber-toothed tigers, only they appeared to be made out of crystal and had two tails with blades at the end. The one on the left was teal, and the other was turquoise.

Pearl had already been scuffed and scratched by them as evidenced by the gash in her unitard. The teal tiger leaped at her, claws fully extended. She spun to the right, avoiding another hit and keeping the turquoise tiger at bay with a swing of her spear.

Spinel tightened her grip on her mallet. “Here, kitty-kitties!” She sprung forward and gave a mighty swing, catching the turquoise cat in the side and slamming it into the wall with a resounding _ slam! _ To her surprise, it didn’t poof, but it left an impressive dent. Distracted by its brethren getting pummeled, the teal tiger turned its head away from Pearl, revealing it had its left eye replaced with its gem. Spinel’s distraction allowed Pearl to deliver a sharp slash across its face.

It let out a roar and jumped back while simultaneously swinging one of its sharp tails in Spinel’s direction. She curved her body around it only to have another tail wrap around her ankle. The turquoise tiger was up again and with Spinel in its grasp, it swung her up into the ceiling, then down onto the floor before pouncing on top of her. Paralleling its partner, this one had its gem in its right eye. 

Spinel threw her mallet out in front of her, keeping the beast’s sharp fangs from plunging into her neck. While it snapped and struggled to bite her, Spinel stretched her lower half to a safe corner of the room, then rubber-banded herself under the tiger and jumped to her feet. 

Pearl stood beside her, repelling the other monster with a sharp jab of her spear. “How on Earth did you know I was here?”

“Because I knew you knew this was the last place I would want to come.” Spinel swung her mallet to keep the tigers back.

“Well, I’m not exactly thrilled to be here either.”

“What, is it the graveyard atmosphere, the memories of all our shattered friends, or the two monsters trying to maul us that ruins it for you?” Spinel asked dryly.

“Yes,” Pearl said with equal dryness.

Spinel let out a short laugh. “Pearl, that was almost humor! I—eep!” She bounced into the air as one of the monsters pounced at her, but this proved to only be a ruse, for its tail snapped up and grabbed the handle of Spinel’s mallet. With a simple flick, Spinel was flung face-first toward the door, but she righted herself halfway through her toss and bounced off the threshold. With returning momentum, she brought her mallet back against the turquoise tiger, smashing it against the wall again. This time, it poofed, leaving only its gem behind.

Pearl, meanwhile, was locked in an intricate dance with the remaining tiger. With its claws and two tails striking constantly at her, she was forced to remain on the defensive, rebuking all its attacks and occasionally getting a small strike in. Spinel put away her mallet and stretched her arms out to grab the two lashing tails by the base. 

The tiger whipped its head back and snarled as Spinel began tying its tails into a knot. Pearl took that moment to deliver a rapid succession of strikes across its face. It made to swipe at her with its huge paws, but Pearl, elegant as usual, leaped to the side and stuck her spear under the tiger’s arm. Already off-balance, a simple twist of her wrist flipped the tiger onto its back, just as Spinel finished bow-tying its tail. 

Pearl jumped into the air, twirled her spear, and brought it down into the beast’s chest. It let out a miserable growl before poofing into a cloud of smoke like its brother, its gem clattering to the floor. With a tired sigh, Pearl slumped to the ground, her spear vanishing in a burst of light. 

Spinel bubbled the corrupted gems and gave them a light tap, sending them both back to the temple. She walked over and knelt next to Pearl. “You okay?”

“It’s just a few scratches. I’m fine, thanks to you.” Pearl smiled then sighed again. “I… I guess I didn’t expect _ anything _ to be wandering around here. Those monsters caught me by surprise.”

Spinel stood up and offered a hand to Pearl, pulling her to her feet. “We haven’t been here in two-thousand years. Something was bound to show up eventually.”

Pearl dusted herself off. “Wishful nostalgia, I suppose. This place was home for such a long time.”

“Yeah…” Spinel thought back to the night she had been brought into the rebellion. The surprise that a spinel of Gems was on Earth, then the warm welcome and high-fives. Garnet showing her around, Bismuth playing off her puns. Finally, Rose showing her the view from the balcony.

Spinel squeezed Pearl’s hand. “Come on.” She tugged her out of the war room and up the now slanted halls. They turned the corner and exited through a broken door, placing them on the back half of the fortress. The ocean stretched out before them, waves lapping against the small cliffside just below. With the sun still high in the sky, the water gleamed like a polished sapphire.

Pearl took in a deep breath. “Rose always did love the ocean.”

“I can’t blame her. Homeworld doesn’t have any, does it?”

Pearl shook her head, her eyes downcast. “You… never got to really see anything outside the palace, did you?”

Spinel scoffed. “The Garden, the palace, that was my entire world. Of course, I didn’t really _ know _ any better,” she said bitterly. She felt Pearl place a hand on her shoulder.

“You do now. Look at everything you got to see and do.”

It brought a smile to Spinel’s face for a brief moment before a frown pulled at her lips again. She was free, yes, but standing here reminded her of all those who weren’t. She thought of the two corrupted Gems they had just fought and bubbled.

“Pearl, do you… do you think we’ll ever be able to save them?”

Pearl moved her hands to her chest and looked up to the sky. “I really don’t know. I want to believe there’s a way, but if Rose couldn’t heal them…” She gave a wistful smile. “Wouldn’t that be a birthday miracle…”

They stood together, watching the waves lap against the rocks and listening to the occasional gull cry. It was peaceful, if not melancholic. 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Spinel said, a little vigor returning to her voice. She poked Pearl in the shoulder. “Caught you.”

Pearl chuckled. “Yes, I suppose you did this year.” She cupped a hand over her eyes and groaned. “Do I have to eat the cake?”

“One slice. I spent all last night baking it. It even looks like your gem!”

“Fine, since you put so much effort into making it. _ One _ slice.”

Spinel gave her a conspiratory grin. “Two, if I beat you in a puzzle game.”

Pearl pointed a thumb at herself. “Me, lose at a puzzle game? Ha! Don’t be ridiculous.”

Spinel coiled her body and stretched herself up and over Pearl. She squashed her head against the cold floor and said, “Me, be ridiculous? I would never do such a thing! I’m being perfectly serious!”

Pearl turned her face away, but Spinel could see the wavering line her mouth made when she was trying not to laugh at Spinel’s antics. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“Yeah!” Spinel uncoiled herself and snapped her body back together. Both Gems gave the ocean one last look before turning to go. “Happy birthday, Pearl.”

Pearl looked back at her and gave a genuine smile. “Thank you, Spinel.”

**Author's Note:**

> Another Spinel AU! I'm sorry, she just has soooo much potential! And I love her. Anyways, AU of the show, told mostly from Spinel's point of view. Some things are the same, a lot of things are different, or rearranged. 
> 
> I got a lot of inspiration from HisFavoriteDarkAngel and their AU telling of Spinel as a Crystal Gem which you can read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537825/chapters/48748325 . They have a lot of great ideas, and this might overlap with a few of them, but I have some divergences of my own. Gotta give credit where credit is due though. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!


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